1,000 Youth in Kisii County receive 2Jiajiri Youth Skilling Scholarships

1,000 youth from Kisii County have been commissioned to undertake various technical and vocational skills training under the KCB Foundation’s 2Jiajiri programme in partnership with the County Government of Kisii.

KCB Foundation and Kisii County government jointly invested KShs. 50 million into the training, which seeks to enhance skills and promote employability among the youth. They will receive training in various sectors, such as Building and construction, Manufacturing, Carpentry and joinery, Electrical Installation, Catering and hospitality, Automotive Engineering, Domestic Services, Sustainable Agribusiness, Beauty and personal care, ICT, and Creative Arts.

Speaking during the event, the KCB Foundation Head of Programmes Joblin Omari noted, “Despite Kenya’s significant progress in addressing the skills gap among its youth, there remains a pressing need for opportunities that serve as a direct pathway to self-employment and entrepreneurship particularly at grassroot levels in the counties.”

The initiative which aims to enhance skills development and improve youth employability in Kisii County, will be implemented through Kisii-based National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) certified Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions.

On his part, Kisii Governor Simba Arati remarked, “I am proud that through this initiative, we are not only equipping our youth with essential technical skills but also nurturing the economic potential of our micro enterprises by providing strategic skills in high-demand sectors, access to capital, ensuring their success.’

Upon completion of the training, the beneficiaries will receive toolkits to help them transition into self-employment, equipping them with the resources tailored to their specific trades or skills.

Since its inception, the 2jiajiri program has disbursed Sh259M in loans and issued 918 business startup toolkits across the country. So far, 22,959 youth have received training from the programme, and 5,594 businesses have been incubated under KCB’s business development services.