KCB Foundation kicked off the 2017 #2Jiajiri program last week in a effort to decrease unemployment among the youth.
Unemployment among the youth has been a constant threat to the country’s development. With over 800,000 young people being rolled out into the job sector every year where in 2014 the number of new jobs in the formal sector seeing a decline of up to 106,400 in 2014, drastic measures need to be put in place to curb the menace.
In spite of this, there lies a huge amount of potential among the youth, potential that needs to be carefully tapped into in order for us to see exponential growth. This includes giving the youth a much needed hands-on training approach to grow their technical skills that are critical in establishing a firm foundation for them either in self-employment or in employment positions.
In spite of this, there lies a huge amount of potential among the youth, potential that needs to be carefully tapped into in order for us to see exponential growth. This includes giving the youth a much needed hands-on training approach to grow their technical skills that are critical in establishing a firm foundation for them either in self-employment or in employment positions.
#2Jiajiri, a flagship youth empowerment program that was rolled out by the KCB Foundation last year, has been specifically designed to build a cadre of skilled youth that will not rely on seeking employment but will develop their own business ideas that will eventually lead in them creating fruitful business ventures and creating employment for others. This is done by:
#2Jiajiri, a flagship youth empowerment program that was rolled out by the KCB Foundation last year, has been specifically designed to build a cadre of skilled youth that will not rely on seeking employment but will develop their own business ideas that will eventually lead in them creating fruitful business ventures and creating employment for others. This is done by:
• Giving the applicants the technical and vocational training needed to produce feasible & competitive goods and services.
• Giving them access to financial services including startup capital.
• Providing the applicants with enterprise management support through business development and advisory services
• Linking the beneficiaries to customers and suppliers in the market to ensure the sustainability of these newly established businesses.
Speaking to Japtheth Njau, a business development consultant from KCB and one of the team leaders of the #2iajiri program, he describes it as one that has the potential to change the face of employment in Kenya. One of the biggest hurdles faced among entrepreneurs when they set up their businesses is the lack of all-round support; be it in registering a business, getting the right papers, setting up an office etc., no one entrepreneur can do all at once, thus there is a big number of young people with great ideas and visions for their businesses but they get frustrated of doing everything at once along the way.
KCB thus comes in with the #2jiajiri program to smoothen the path into ensuring that these startups get the support they need to be able to fully run on its own.
How does #2Jiajiri do this?
There are 3 basic elements to implementing this initiative:
1. Inception
Experience is a great part of one’s resume and as much as our school system equips us with the right knowledge according to our field of study, a huge number of graduates enter the job market without the relevant skills required. It even goes as far as simple tasks in the office e.g. printing a document, photocopying and balancing a worksheet. Hands-on training is very important and it is lacking in most of our graduates.
In the program, the applicants are taken through training; training that allows them to get hands-on experience and the necessary skills in 5 major areas
- Construction
- Beauty and personal care
- Agribusiness
- Automotive maintenance and repair
- Domestic services
2. Incubation
This is a follow up from the inception phase that sees the bank extending loans to the beneficiaries and support from their trio. Their trio consists of an accountant, a marketer and a lawyer who are all actively involved in the beneficiaries businesses.
The lawyer helps to fill out all the paperwork needed for the registration of a business. They walk with you step by step and ensure that everything is set up and follow ups are made.
The accountant helps with managing their finances. Japheth says that one factor that discourages young people setting up their own business is acquiring the first loan, but KCB is coming up to help other banks and financial institutions differently. Instead of letting banks see young people’s ideas as risks, KCB looks at them as achievable goals that will grow into successful ventures.
The third person is the marketer who helps the beneficiaries structure their business in such a way as to get maximum visibility and potential leads who will eventually become customers of their already established businesses. This is done by creating business cards for them, setting up of Facebook pages and they are also guided in how to maximize on the best marketing strategies.
3. Maturity
Here, KCB links clients who are interested in the services offered by the program’s beneficiaries. An example from this is the partnership with Ashley’s which takes the young entrepreneurs under the beauty and personal care sector and helps them in open up their own hairdressing stall under the Ashley’s brand.
The #2jiajiri program has so far seen a number of success stories with the students who graduated in the pilot phase last year opening a number of thriving businesses all over the country and are even seeking to expand to allow for sustenance.
Kenya’s bleak future of rising unemployment is one that is being restructured by the program and it is estimated that 250,000 jobs will be created by the end of the 2jiajiri 5-year implementation cycle thus creating a great ripple effect in the economic future of not just Kenya, but East Africa as a whole.
