Our society today grapples with a myriad of challenges which seem endless and without hopes of getting resolved. One of these challenges is the menace posed by youth unemployment that manifest in symptoms such as criminality, political hooliganism to name by a few. In most instance, our instinctive approach toward such challenge involves shifting responsibility by complaining about it and blaming whoever we think should be doing something about it. The results, often, is that little if any, ends up being done to ameliorate the situation.

A group of youthful professionals, however, has opted to trudge down the path less taken. They have established the Gifted Hands Empowerment Organization through which they have rolled out the Youth 4 Biz initiative, a dynamic youth empowerment initiative that seeks to shape lives and ignite a powerful social and economic changes. The initiative was launched on November 10, in a colorful ceremony that was graced by officials from the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and the National Technical Education and Training. Besides, in attendance was the first cohort of beneficiaries and an assortment of community mobilizers, and trainers.

At the core of the Youth 4 Biz initiative is the recognition of the need to empower youth with requisite skills that will make them competitive at the job market, and more importantly, empower them to become creators of economic opportunities for themselves and others through entrepreneurship. The speakers at the launch acknowledged the persisting skills deficiency amongst the youth and the need for addressing this through the provision of technical training. In his key note address, the Deputy Director of for Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), Mr. Franklin Mukuna underscored that “unemployed youth do not have the requisite skills and competencies to match the existing opportunities in the job market” and they cannot therefore, qualify to take up the available jobs. He noted that in recognition of the need for skilling and upskilling the youth the government has invested in TVET since it is “the center of civilization” and thus getting it right with TVET tantamount to setting the nation on the path to economic growth. As currently constituted TVET is “is premised on the national development agenda, VISION 2030,” whose major aim is to “transform Kenya into a newly industrialized middle income economy; provide high quality life to all citizenry and in a clean and secure environment by 2030.”

In his speech, Mr. Mukuna also outlined various targeted outcome of the TVET programs that currently target the youth. These include imparting technical and technological skills that include the acquisition of both practical skills and attitudes or soft skills. He also mentioned that in the long run, TVET also seeks to boost the productivity and competitiveness of learners, thereby assuring the prosperity of their individual enterprises and careers. The TVET acquired skills are certified based on international standards, which considered a critical stimulant for employment and creative innovation opportunities for entrepreneurs. The government has so far constructed a total of 238 technical training institutes across all constituencies in a bid to reach the goal of constructing 1 TVET institution in every constituency; 1 national polytechnic in every county; 1 vocational training center in every ward.

In his speech on behalf of Prime Cabinet Secretary Dr. Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi, Mr. Bongo Wekesa reiterated the government’s commitment towards “enhancing the well-being of the youth rests on the cornerstone of collaboration and synergy among diverse stakeholders.” He noted that this was critical in terms of attaining the “sustainable growth and development” which are in alignment with the “United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) on Decent Work and Economic Growth.” He further noted that “empowering the youth today ensures a promising and robust leadership for our future, in line with SDG 4, SDG 8, and SDG 10.”
The Youth 4 Biz initiative is structured in a way to accommodate various talents and gifts. While TVET courses are still out of reach for most youth in informal settlements in Nairobi, and Youth 4 Biz seeks to bridge this chasm by providing affordable courses including automotive engineering, electrical engineering, plumbing, fashion and design, hair dressing, beauty and skin care, amongst others. The initiative runs between 3 – 6 months. Interested eligible persons apply via the website; the applications are subsequently assessed. Qualified applicants are taken through training, which is followed by internship or apprenticeship through partnerships with existing businesses.

The initiative targets youth between 18 to 25 years who have completed their secondary education but have not had the opportunity to pursue tertiary education due to factors including financial constraints. The initiative is currently concentrated in Kiambu & Nairobi County, with beneficiaries drawn from Uthiru and its surroundings including Kangemi, Kawangware, and Dagoretti. The first cohort was made up of 43s learners out of the 60 who successfully applied for the program. Out of the 43, a total of 18 (will be doing) food processing; 4 – automotive engineering; 4 – electrical engineering; 1 – mechanical engineering; 1 – plumbing; 2 – fashion and design.

According to the initiative’s Vice Chairperson, Mr. Bernard Otieno, the initiative focuses on capacity building through hands-on training for entrepreneurship. The initiative stresses on the importance of soft skills in the current job and business environment and thus, empowers the trainees with soft skills including decision making, leadership, work-life balance, communication, stress management and career guidance.
Evidently, the hand-on training approach adopted by the initiative is in tandem with the national aspiration of TVET programs. This model gives acquisition of demonstrable skills more prominence rather than mere certification. According to Mr. Mukuna, the TVET Deputy Director, the ‘hunting and gathering’ has been the norm in the country for while at the expense of the development of marketable competencies. He noted that the current TVET training has adopted the competency based learning approach to ensure that training is market-driven and addresses the need of the workplace. The global labor benchmark for technical skills required for economic development prescribe that for every one engineer, there should be 2 technologists; 4 technicians; and 16 operators (craft persons and artisans).

Another official from the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary Maureen Chepkoech Mutai, who is also a Social Advocate & Champion on matters related to Youth economic empowerment and the Kenya Youth Representative to the 73rd and 74th UN General Assembly, also highlighted the need for youth to support one another in addressing the prevailing social and economic challenges. She commended the Youth 4 Biz idea and likened it to “looking at solution as opposed to the challenges.” Mr. Mukuna also applauded the founders of the initiative, and acknowledged the bridging opportunities they provided to underprivileged youth by qualifying them to upskill by joining the available TVET institutions. Mr. Bongo also acknowledged that Youth 4 Biz “is not merely a program; it embodies a noble mission—to equip our young minds with the essential tools and knowledge indispensable for their success.” Therefore, as noted by Mr. Kiguta, the launch of the initiative was the fulfilment of the vision to support youth who have finished secondary school yet they find themselves at the crossroads regarding upscaling and upskilling in their respective areas of interest.

Throughout the launch it became evident that the gist of every address that was made revolved around youth empowerment. The founder and CEO of the initiative, Mr. Antony Kiguta, the need for providing the youth with requisite skills to be economically viable as workers and entrepreneurs was the driving force that brought the efforts of his team together. The Youth 4 Biz is run by a multi-professional team: Eroll Wekesa , the Chairperson (a Public Health Programming and Management consultant); Benard Ochieng, Vice-Chairperson (a Business Development Consultant); Lawrence Njiru, Treasurer (a Middle Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) Financing Consult); Cynthia Muthoni, Finance and Administration officer (a Community Builder & an Operations Management expert; Dr. Linda Kimencu, the Curriculum Development & Oversight officer (an Entrepreneurial Educator); Mary Kihara, the Legal Advisor (an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya); and Florence Wairimu, the Learning Centres Coordinator (an educator).
Without doubt, Youth 4 Biz initiative serves as a launching pad of sorts to youth who would have wasted away after secondary school; it levels them up to be able to advance their respective competencies in tertiary colleges. However, for the initiative to attain its full potential and roll out across the country, there is need for more partnership and collaboration from like-minded individuals and entities who believe in the potential of our youth.