By James Wakahiu
Anger, frustration, disillusionment. These are some of the common descriptions
that are
likely to come up whenever a conversation on youth unemployment in the country
is
held. Youth unemployment remains a daunting challenge globally but has become
exceptionally prevalent in Africa, which is projected to have the largest young
workforce
in the world by 2040.
Photo:Benson Muthendi, the Acting Chief Executive Officer at Youth Enterprise Development Fund.
And Kenya is no exception. The number of jobless Kenyans has doubled over a
decade of
infrastructure-fueled economic growth and faster adoption of technology that
has left the
country with the highest unemployment rate in the region. According to the
World Bank,
5.7 percent of Kenya’s labour force was out of work in 2021, up from 2.8
percent when
the Jubilee administration took over in 2013.
As the leadership of the new Kenyan government settles in office, the eyes of
many jobless
youth are on them. They expect the government to create jobs for them and most
importantly, create a conducive environment for Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises
(MSMEs) to thrive.
The Jubilee regime, in which Dr Ruto served as a deputy until 2019 when his
influence
was clipped, partly rode to power in 2017 on a platform of modernising and
building new
factories to help generate targeted 800,000 new decent jobs for youth. But while
the
economy has grown by an average of five percent, this growth has come from
capital-
intensive infrastructure projects which have not trickled down to the average
citizen.
University dons, Treasury mandarins and the Youth Department officials are cracking
their heads on how to the country out of this mess. Professor Renson Muchiri of
KCA
University wants universities to work with industry players to enhance the
preparation of
students to create employment opportunities for themselves. “The urgent infusion
of
academia and the practice of entrepreneurship is necessary,” he urges.
According to Benson Muthendi, the Acting Chief Executive Officer at YEPD, the
attitude of
many youth is slowly shifting and the number of those that are willing to
create their own
employment and livelihood opportunities through entrepreneurship is growing.
‘The
attitude change by the youth as well as the effective preparation of young
people to do
business is critical for the survival of their enterprises. Enabling the youth
to create
decent jobs and livelihoods for themselves through entrepreneurship is key to
reducing
joblessness among the youth,” he said.
The two were speaking during the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF)’s
Entrepreneurship Training of Trainers workshop in Murang’a earlier in
September, 2022.
Established in 2006 as a Vision 2030 Flagship Project under the Social Pillar,
the Fund is a
State Corporation in the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs. Its
role is to
provide funding and business development services to youth owned or youth
focused
enterprises. The main purpose? To create jobs.
In 2021, under the British Council’s Innovation for African Universities (IAU)
Programme,
and the YEDF teamed up with two notable Universities, KCA University and
University of
Nottingham (UK). They sought to investigate the disconnect between
entrepreneurship
learning and practice by Kenyan youth.
Their findings led to the crafting of very innovative solutions to facilitate
young people
keen on successfully venturing into entrepreneurship. Under the ambit of their
project
titled Co-production for Youth Entrepreneurship in Kenya (CoPYEK), the partners
improved their entrepreneurship curricular resources, built the capacity of key
entrepreneurship ecosystem stakeholders and leveraged partnerships and
engagement
pathways for co-producing practical entrepreneurship learning opportunities for
and
with young entrepreneurs.
In the light of shrinking formal employment opportunities, the youth should
consider
being job creators and cease being dependent on formal employment. YEDF is
confident
that entrepreneurship can be learned. One of its key objectives is to
facilitate employment
for youth in the international labor market.
“The youth should be on the look-out for economic opportunities they can
profitably
exploit to create livelihoods for themselves. In the current technology age,
many
opportunities are coming up that the youth can take advantage of. It also helps
to acquire
skills which they can then commercialize,” says Muthendi, Acting CEO at the
Youth Fund.
He calls for enhanced collaboration between the government (both County and
National
Government), the private sector as well as development partners to boost youth
employment. “The government should reduce the costs of establishing
enterprises;
Kenyans pay heavily for too many licenses before they start their businesses.
This chokes
the business at the onset and hence very few are able to thrive,” he says.
The national and county government should also consider giving periodic tax
breaks for
enterprises owned by the youth. “The government and private sector should lay a
lot of
emphasis on youth business mentorship programmes where youth entrepreneurs get
the
opportunity to learn the practical intricacies of running a successful business
from
already practicing entrepreneurs,” he says.
Moreover, while the manufacturing sector has immense potential to create
sustainable jobs for Kenyan youth, the sector is reeling under the high costs
of electricity that have seen many manufacturing entities close shop. The
government should urgently look into
ways of bringing down the cost of electricity to attract more investment in
the manufacturing sector.
Meanwhile, YEDF continues to provide loans to existing micro-finance institutions,
registered non-governmental organizations involved in microfinancing, and
savings and
credit co-operative organizations for on-lending to youth enterprises. Since
inception in
2007, YEDF has disbursed over Sh14.2 billion to approximately two million youth
entrepreneurs. “Further, we have supported another 800,000 youth enterprises
with
various business development services such as training, mentorship as well as
market
linkages,” says Muthendi.
YEDF is a revolving fund, wholly funded by the taxpayer for its operations. One
of the
The greatest challenge facing the Fund at the moment is the high demand for its
services
especially business financing, which continues to put a tremendous strain on
the
revolving kitty. And although YEDF has a presence in every county, it is
sometimes
difficult to effectively reach the youth, especially in the far corners of some of the vast
counties.
“The youth want to be unshackled from the perennial yoke of unemployment. Job
creation
through genuine, well-thought-out youth entrepreneurship support is a good
place to
begin. Impartation of practical entrepreneurship skills, deliberate reduction
of the cost of
doing business in Kenya, ease of access to adequate, flexible business
financing as well as
proper market support and linkages for youth businesses is the potent trigger
for the
emancipation of young people” says Muthendi.
www.the mountainjournal.co.ke
