Kepsa targets creation of one million jobs
INITIATIVE: Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) has launched an entrepreneurship programme expected to harmonise all youth employment initiatives to create at least one million jobs per annum. Through an ongoing programme dubbed Kenya Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme (K-YEEAP), different forces have come together to support growth of 200,000 small businesses while catalysing development of 10,000 start-ups through the creation of 47 county business hubs.
The K-YEEAP programme will see Kepsa identify new and under-served sectors with the potential to generate at least five million decent and sustainable jobs by 2027. According to Kepsa, the Kenya Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme will leverage technology and digital transformation.
Speaking during the launch of the Accelerator Programme, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (pictured) who said the economy has not matched the supply in the generation of new jobs for the youth.
“The Kenya Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme is an idea whose time has come. If done in partnership with our TVET institutions it can also play an important role in bridging the gap between training and industry,” he said. Youth unemployment in Kenya is estimated at 38.9 per cent with an estimated 800,000 young people getting into the labour market every year from institutions of higher learning.
