Kenya on Monday launched an accelerated program that seeks to create at least one million employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for youth in Kenya.
The entrepreneurship program is to run per year for the next five years within the private sector.
Kenya’s Deputy President Geoffrey Rigathi Gachagua said that the Kenya Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship program initiative was to unlock the potential of the small and medium enterprises.
He said the program was tailored to support services that allowed them to grow and create jobs for young people.
Gachagua said the program would also leverage technology and digital transformation to scale up the businesses.
He revealed that youth unemployment in Kenya was estimated at 38.9 per cent with an estimated one million young people getting into the labor market every year from academic institutions.
Flora Mutahi, the chairperson of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, said the initiative was expected to transform the youth labor market by contributing relevant evidence and data to addressing policy bottlenecks impeding accelerated job creation in the private sector.
Mutahi added that the target beneficiaries were youth in low resource settings.
