Government should train on business plan writing skills first

The decision by the government to set up a venture capital fund is impressive and should be lauded; the ministry of industrialization has demonstrated that it is determined to see some changes.

The $39 million will go a long way to making many projects a reality, but I hope the ministry has read recent reports indicating that many Kenyans have a problem writing business plans.

In light of the challenges, the ministry should start by training interested techies on writing successful business plans. That way, they will articulate issues and ideas much better even to other venture capitalists.

The ministry should also venture into the universities and teach the engineers and techies there how to monetize their innovations. For instance, at the engineering students’ exhibition last Friday, I was shocked at how many students had no idea how much they wanted to implement their innovative products for.

I am sure the ministry thinks the lecturers should impart the business skills, but technology is Greek to some of the lecturers, and they would not be capable of guiding them. This would have to take concerted efforts.

I am hoping that the fund is not mere rhetoric and that it will not become like the ICT Board/ World Bank bandwidth subsidy that has become a shifting shadow or a fading song for many investors in Kenya’s BPO sector.

So, first thing's first: Lets get the business plans out of the way and deal with secondary issues later.