Kisumu City residents should take advantage of Maseno University Business Incubator (MUBI) which is located within Kisumu Central Business District at Varsity Plaza Maseno University City Campus.
The incubator which is meant to offer mentoring and coaching services has seen a very small number of interested persons registering for the service.
According to the county’s Vision 2030 Innovation, Entrepreneurship and ICT technology are the pillars which are fundamental to expanding global economic opportunities, increasing competitiveness as well as reducing poverty.
MUBI is brain child of several lecturers within Maseno University in collaboration with the World Bank in line with Maseno strategic plan of 2011-2017.
With many graduates in the county, the incubator is intended to provide Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to harness innovations and entrepreneurial potential.
It is also meant, to help local firms in traditional sectors to reach new customers and to improve productivity and competitiveness because some of them lack mentorship and best practise guidance, an absence of business support service, lack of advice and limited and costly access to telecom services particularly the internet among others.
To be fully registered at MUBI, the starters (young people who want to establish themselves in the business industry) are required to pay Sh 3,200 while already established business persons and firms can register with Sh15,200.
Some of the services provided at the incubation centre include: Business Plan Development, Product and Service Development, Financial Planning & Bookkeeping, Financial Management, Business Management, Marketing Strategies, Sales Strategies, Organizational Structures, Operational Structures, Legal Consultancy and Tax Consultancy.
According to MUBI coordinator Nelson Obange who is also a lecturer in the School of Business and Economics Maseno University, some students as well as residents of Kisumu are in for the challenge and have registered for the mentorship and coaching excesise even though others are yet to embrace the program.
Obange suggests that students and residents with business and innovative ideas should join MUBI for their dreams to be realised.