How To Benefit From Ruto's Five Million Jobs Plan

President William Ruto's government has partnered with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) which will see the creation of five million jobs by 2027.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Monday, October 31, 2022, launched the Kenya Youth Employment & Entrepreneurship Accelerator (KYEEA) at KEPSA headquarters in Nairobi.

The new plan will seek to provide youth with various job opportunities in the underserved sectors as well as allow KEPSA to scale up small enterprises by unlocking financing, access to markets, business coaching and mentorship to Kenyans under the age of 35.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua with members of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance. /FACEBOOK.RIGATHI GACHAGUA

“Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are key in achieving the targets of the Kenya Kwanza Plan,” Deputy President Rigathi asserted.

The KYEEA programme will also grant direct employment to a number of youths who will be absorbed into the service and will equip Kenyan youth with the skills necessary in addressing the unemployment crisis in the country.

How To Apply

KEPSA urged Kenyans under the age of 35 to apply for the training and employment opportunities on their website kepsa.or.ke.

The applicants must have completed secondary school education, and have no pending criminal records.

“Today I am honoured to preside over the launch of the Kenya Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program. The youth remain central to our Government’s agenda to improve the lives of the millions of youth around the country,” said Gachagua.

“As a Government, we will provide the necessary support to take the youth closer to their collective dream of a better future. This fund and the partnership with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance will go a long way towards giving the youth an equal chance at life.”

KEPSA CEO Carole Kariuki noted that the KYEEA programme will pursue relevant and market-oriented skills for industry transformation by closely collaborating with the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) ecosystem to ensure they meet their objectives.

“The main goal of Kepsa is to encourage economic development and job creation in Kenya. This initiative aims to address barriers to youth employment such as demand and absorption capacity creation, given the dual challenges of a growing youth bulge and the systemic bottlenecks that youth face when entering the labour market,” said Kariuki.

The project will also support the digital transformation of small businesses, increase digital and digitally-enabled job opportunities for young people as well as public sector digital transformation for efficient service delivery and job creation as it works towards transforming the economy.

The program also aims to support the growth of 200,000 small businesses while catalyzing the development of 10,000 start-ups through the creation of 47 County Business Hubs.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), more than 800,000 young Kenyans enter the job market every year from universities and other tertiary institutions.

The Kenya Population and Housing Census Report (2019) further places the unemployment rate at 38.9 per cent, with nearly 5.3 million youth unable to secure decent jobs.