JOHANNESBURG - Sixty- two trainees from Kenya's coast region have received construction toolkits to enable them establish individual and group-based micro enterprises in the building and construction sectors after completing training at the Mombasa National Polytechnic under the KCB Foundation’s flagship youth empowerment programme, 2jiajiri.
The tools are part of KES20 million (Kenyan shillings) worth of toolkits procured by the foundation in partnership with the German International Development Agency (GIZ) for 580 beneficiaries under the agency's Employment and Skills for Eastern Africa programme.
The 2jiajiri project aims to transform job seekers into employers by helping them realise their potential as business owners. The youth go through technical and vocational training in the building and construction, automotive maintenance and repair, beauty and personal care, domestic services and agribusiness sectors.
KCB Foundation managing director Jane Mwangi said the foundation and GIZ had handed over more than 300 toolkits to youth in different counties, towards a target of equipping 580 youth by November.
“The construction beneficiaries are now well placed to access contracts from the private sector and national and county governments as they have fully registered their businesses," she said.
The 2jiajiri programme, launched in March 2016, seeks to empower 10,000 youth every year to start small businesses that will employ at least 5 people each.
GIZ's Employment and Skills for Eastern Africa initiative aims to promote local employment and reduce the local workforce’s skills gap in and around natural resource-based industries and related sectors in Kenya.
The programme cooperates with key stakeholders for employment, including international and domestic companies, governments and local training providers and aims to train over 23,000 youth in Kenya and place about 9,000 in jobs by 2019.
It is funded by the German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development, the UK department for international development, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and private partners.