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    26Oct, 2022
    Youth Opportunities? Where Are They?
    Participants during the discussions: Photo: Julius Rasat

    Are youth opportunities there and how visible and accessible is the information on these opportunities? This week’s #CoffeebarTuesday is a continuation of last week’s discussion on understanding some of the youth opportunities that are there and the ones that are yet to be implemented by both the county and national government. We have collected some of the opportunities that young people can access. However, some if these opportunities are not always receiving applications, you should be on the look out in case they ask for applications.

    Youth Enterprise Development Fund

    The Fund seeks to create employment opportunities for young people through entrepreneurship and encouraging them to be job creators and not job seekers. It does this by providing easy and affordable financial and business development support services to youth who are keen on starting or expanding businesses. For more info http://www.youthfund.go.ke/

    Women Enterprise Fund

    The fund will continue to provide Kenyan women with access to alternative financial services. It is expected that the loans women will access as a result of the establishment of the fund will have a positive impact on family welfare. In addition, it will increase the estimated earned incomes (purchasing power parity). By using a group approach, it is envisioned that the fund will serve to strengthen women’s voices and bargaining power within the home as well as the wider community. To access the fund, you must fill an application form from you sub county office.

    Uwezo Fund

    Uwezo Fund is a flagship programme for vision 2030 aimed at enabling women, youth and persons with disabilities access finances to promote businesses and enterprises at the constituency level. The Fund is highly devolved and adopted the concept of bottom-up approach with decision making done at the grassroots level. To access the fund, you must fill an application form from you sub county office.  For more info https://www.uwezo.go.ke/

    Access To Government Procurement Opportunities

    The aim of the AGPO Program is to facilitate the youth, women and persons with disabilities owned enterprises to be able to participate in government procurement. The procurement Act  states that any procuring entity shall allocate at least thirty percent of its procurement spend for the purposes of procuring goods, works and services from micro and small enterprises owned by youth, women and PWD. https://agpo.go.ke/pages/agpo-registration-requirements

    Ajira Digital

    aims to introduce Kenyans to digitally-enabled jobs and provide the tools, training and mentorship needed to earn an income from digital work. is a Government initiative driven by the Ministry of ICT to empower over one million young people to access digital job opportunities. The program seeks to position Kenya as a labour destination for multinational companies as well as encourage local companies and the public sector to create digital work. https://ajiradigital.go.ke/#/index

    Green Card

    Having a Green Card (officially known as a Permanent Resident Card (PDF, 6.86 MB) allows you to live and work permanently in the United States. The steps you must take to apply for a Green Card will vary depending on your individual situation. Once you find the category that may fit your situation, click on the link provided to get information on eligibility requirements, how to apply, and whether your family members can also apply with you. To apply click here https://dvprogram.state.gov/

    Photo: CHRIPS

    Kenya Youth Employment Opportunities

    Kenya Youth Employment and Opportunities Project (KYEOP) is a transformational project that aims to empower and uplift the wellbeing of the youth in Kenya by equipping them with essential training, internship, and business grant opportunities. Create your own business! Get support for your business with a 40,000 business grant or coaching on running a business and Get trained in one of our trade areas, do an internship in a company or an apprenticeship with a Master Craftsman. This is usually works with cycles and is not always opened for application. https://kyeop.go.ke/

    MbeleNaBiz

    The MbeleNaBiz Business Plan Competition aims to expand new and existing youth-led enterprises by providing them with grant funding. The Government of Kenya recognizes the need for job creation to address the challenge of youth unemployment in Kenya. By investing in young entrepreneurs whose ventures will generate employment opportunities and earnings for unemployed youth, MbeleNaBiz will contribute to the development of an inclusive economy that provides opportunities for as many Kenyans as possible. https://www.mbelenabiz.go.ke/about-us.php

    Future Bora Initiative

    Future Bora Initiative is unique from the other KYEOP products in that it does not target the intended beneficiaries directly, but seeks to benefit them through intermediaries (organizations that give specific focus to the hard to serve groups to better their livelihoods). The initiative will therefore identify high-potential interventions and fund them to scale. https://www.futurebora.go.ke/  

    Ndoto Nzetu

    The initiative focuses on partnering with Kenyans to implement health, education and economic empowerment projects. aims to support Kenyans who are keen to make an impact in their communities through social investments. Through the initiative, we ask Kenyans to share their dreams and aspirations that they hope to achieve in the areas of health, education and economic empowerment. Each dream we help fulfill translates to thousands of lives being uplifted and transformed.  Ndoto Nzetu is going to partner with you to bring dreams to life. https://www.safaricomfoundation.org/ndotozetu/

    Tenders

    Tenders is also another opportunity that young people can tap into which is usually left for the elites and old people. Majority of local schools do advertise calling in for tenders but majority of young people don’t apply due to lack of information and others citing not having enough money. There are young entrepreneurs who are making a mark in the business world through entrepreneur.  Its upon young people to also get share of the cake by making sure they have necessary documents and applying for the opportunities.

    Local Organization

    Through partnerships, young people can be able to access opportunities that are there set by development partners/organizations. Majority of these opportunities don’t get to young people because they are open to the public domain or there’s no godfather somewhere. Young people should also be on the lookout and aligning themselves with organizations that work in the same field.

    Hustler Fund

    The Hustler Fund is emerging as the most popular affirmative action fund from the government. The fund is set to be operational in December and will see the government set aside Sh50 billion to provide cheaper credit for micro and small businesses. The word going around is that they fund is not free money and for you to access it, there must be a track record of your savings. We save first to get the funds.

    Film Fund

    The Film Fund is expected to support the creative industry under a plan to add value to Kenya’s exports such as fashion, leather products, and craft industries. The new government will push Parliament to pass the Creative Economy Bill that will enable the establishment of a film fund which will in turn facilitate the access to modern equipment and entire film production infrastructure available for local film makers on a hire and lease basis.

    Biashara fund

    The County Government of Nairobi  has promised to set aside funds under the Biashara Fund that shall work towards facilitating optimal production of standardized globally competitive goods through establishment of modern technology facilities. However, this is yet to be finalized and we should be on the look out.

    As a youth-led organization, we are particularly keen on how the youth can be guided and benefit from the tenders, opportunities and funds that the government, institutions, and private sector has set aside for them. In the coming weeks, we shall be looking at how young people can also understand financial security. One thing that young people should also keep in mind is majority of these funds will only be accessible if you’re in a registered group and savings with different Saccos. See you on Tuesday!

    Reference: Kenya Youth Employment Procurement Opportunity , Business Daily

    20Oct, 2022
    Missed Youth Opportunities

    This week’s #CoffeeBarTuesday focused on youth opportunities and getting to understand some of the opportunities that are there for young people and if they are accessible. For so long, young people have not been able to access opportunities due to lack of information and the opportunities themselves. We noted that some of the opportunities, especially the government revolving funds are hard to access since some cited that you need to have godfather. Many have applied but have never received any response on their application.  As much as young people don’t have a source of income, we noted that the majority are also not aware of financial security and how they can be able to plan their money.

    During the discussions, we discussed on some of the opportunities that are already there such as Youth Enterprise Development Fund, Uwezo Fund, Women Fund, National Fund For The Disabled of Kenya, Ajira Digital, Access to Government Procurement Opportunities, Kenya Youth Employment Opportunities and Mbele NA Biz. Both the county and national government have promised to have different funds that can be accessed by young people such as Hustler Fund, Biashara Fund and more commitment on Access to Government Procurement Opportunities.

    Other opportunities that young people can tap into are applying and expressing interest in advertised tenders, short courses and training, Ndoto Zetu by Safaricom, Green Card, looking out for local organizations that give different funds or training to young people among others . Young people don’t know how to express interest on tenders and this is mainly because this information is not easily accessible or the information is reserved for the few. As much as some of the tenders are advertised for formalities, young people also need to express their interest and apply.

    Participants during the discussion. Photo: Julius Rasat

    When it comes to savings and financial plans, young people are not aware or don’t understand how to save and minimize their spending. For those who have a form of income, the majority don’t have a saving plan. On this one, we also checked on how money market funding, shares and saccos work and how they can help in building a sustainable financial plan for the future. Keeping in mind there is no guarantee that you’ll make money from investments you make. But getting the facts on saving and investing and following through with a well outlined plan, as a young person you should be able to gain financial security over the years and enjoy the benefits of managing your money.

    For you to get some of these government opportunities, you must first be a registered group or at least belong to one. For those with great ideas that would create employment, MbeleNABiz competition is suitable for you. This is an initiative by the government that aims to expand new and existing youth-led enterprises by providing them with grant funding and/or business plan training. Advocating for young people to have and access opportunities is crucial so as to have financial independence.

    Mukuru Youth Initiative vision being having a community that is free from social vices and youths who are focused on seeing the community develop both socially and economically, we believe in creating spaces where young people can access information that will be able to change their lives positively. Coming next week, we shall be dissecting savings and investment plans that young people can adopt for their own future. See you next week!