Joint Loan Board

Joint Loan Board Credit Scheme:

The Joint Loan Board is a Credit Scheme administered through the District Trade Development Office. The scheme was established in 1954. The members of the JLB were drawn from both the Central government and the then Local authorities.

Objectives of the Scheme

The Scheme provides loans to small indigenous industrialists and traders to enable them attain commercial experience, standards of Credit Worthiness for further loans from banks and participation in economic development of the nation.

  • Further the scheme is intended to enhance entrepreneurship, develop enterprises and stimulate income generation and employment creation in rural areas.
  • The scheme is operated as a revolving fund where loan recipients repay the loans so that other needy entrepreneurs can benefit from the Boards kitty.

Grants to the board were expected to come from both the central government and the then local authorities.

The uptake of loans through the JLB has been excellent within the big towns. We need to up scale the uptake of the loan especially in the rural areas so as to spread the benefits.

Business Information Center

The objective of a BIC is to provide relevant and timely business information to the Micro and small enterprises in Kenya.

Business Solution Center

The BSCs are designed to be a one-stop-shop for an integrated mix of business services to the youth/persons taking up self-employment within the MSE sector and other existing MSEs throughout the county.

Kisii County, for a start requires a combination of the two. The two can complement one another.

Current Challenges

  • The Trade office is grossly under-funded and this has immensely undermined the performance of the office
  • The station lacks official transport to undertake monitoring duties
  • The office is under-staffed. Additional staffs at all cadres are required
  • The office requires modern equipment like computers, projectors, etc
  • The office has  inadequate space

Recommendations

  • Construction of a Trade and Industry complex that will house all the departments under the sector
  • Deployment of additional staff both at Kisii office and Nyamarambe offices
  • Creation/establishing trade offices at each sub-county with adequate staff, equipment and offices
  • Additional funding of the JLB kitty so as to spread the benefits to as many traders as possible
  • Establishment of BICs/BSCs. We can begin from Kisii Central and gradually move to the sub-counties
  • The county needs to organize a major trade fair and exhibition to market the county
  • Recurrent expenditures need to be reviewed upwards for optimal operation
  • Procurement of official transport for the department
  • Training of support staff on ICT

Flag Ship Projects

The department under the Vision 2030 has the overall responsibility over the following flagship projects:

  1. Creation and facilitation of Producer Business Groups
  2. Establishment of wholesale hubs and tier 1 retail markets.

The creation and facilitation of PBGs has been an on-going activity of the county trade office and a lot has been achieved as many groups have been reached and linked to markets, financial institutions, OVOPprogrammes besides benefitting from other business development services provided by the trade office.

The whole hubs and tier 1 retail markets were to begin with a pilot in Athi River after similar models can be replicated in other regions. The initial objective was to construct 10 wholesale and retail markets which would spread the benefits of increased income through job creation and increased economic activity.

 

More in this category: Weights and Measures Sector »