The USAID East Africa Trade and Investment Hub

The USAID East Africa Trade and Investment Hub is helping the region’s entrepreneurs

The USAID East Africa Trade and Investment Hub is collaborating with Open Capital to assist entrepreneurs in the region become investment and export ready. A forum in 2016 revealed that many Kenyan entrepreneurs are usually not prepared to handle growth opportunities.

Therefore, these two organizations will be helping SMEs to improve and professionalize their operations, prepare for rapid growth and raise capital to realize growth objectives. The entrepreneurs will also be helped to capitalize on AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) opportunities.

All these will be realized through growth-planning exercises, strategy prioritization assistance, export partnerships and facilitation, plus fundraising support.

Eligibility

  • Operate in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia or Madagascar
  • Operate in AGOA-focused sectors: textile and apparel, fashion, floriculture, horticulture and related industries
  • Demonstrate at least one year of successful operations, with some meaningful revenue
  • Yet to export before or have little experience in exporting
  • Have excellent growth potential
  • Require additional capital of $250k to $3M (sh.26M to sh.312M)
  • Unable to source and pay for similar support

The USAID East Africa Trade and Investment Hub deepen integration and increases competitiveness of select agricultural value chains in the region. It also promotes trade between USA and East Africa, under AGOA. Open Capital, on the other hand, is a management consultancy and financial advisory firm with offices in Nairobi, Kampala and Lusaka.

For a shot at this, contact invest@eatradehub.org. You can also visit USAID East Africa Trade Hub’s official website to find out more. Good luck!