German-based mentorship programme ‘MentorMe’ has announced its launch in Kenya, as part of a wider transcontinental Initiative to unlock employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people in the country.
MentorMe Kenya has partnered with the German Development Cooperation to offer an expansive network of Mentors from both Germany and Kenya giving mentees access to an international outlook to the diverse sectors covered in the programme.
MentorMe uses a matching software that enables the organization to match over 1000 Mentors and Mentees according to their needs and career growth requirements.
It also offers a community of learning across the two countries through events, training and networking.
Speaking during the launch, MentorMe Founder, Karin Heinzl, spoke about the organization’s plans and vision for establishing its operations in East Africa.
“We are excited to roll out this programme for the first time in the African continent and to establish our presence in Kenya,” he said, adding that the programme has been highly successful in Germany, since its inception, having facilitated over 2500 mentees to realize career development and business growth goals.
“For us Mentorship is about more than just encouragement, it is a practical guide on how to define goals, where to source for relevant funding, where to find accessible learning tools for specific sectors and forecasts on emerging areas of disruption. We ultimately aim to make a significant contribution to young people’s lives,” said Heinzl.
Speaking on the partnership, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) Country Director, Bodo Immink said, GIZ is committed to equipping young people and Micro and Small Businesses with the relevant skills and capacity to reduce unemployment and increase economic sustainability.
“In this partnership, we are especially seeking out young people and women’s businesses that are focused on the Green Economy to address the current and very urgent matter of climate change. We will continue to support MentorMe Kenya through its objective to offer industry-specific mentoring, training and networking events,” Immink noted.
MentorMe Kenya is designed to help 200 job-seeking Kenyans between the ages of 18 and 35 find new jobs and to support upskilling of 300 Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) for employment creation, enterprise development and gender and pay equality by at least 10%.
“The mentees will be accompanied by their mentors from Germany and Kenya for ten months. In regular monthly exchanges via Zoom, Skype or in person on site, the mentees benefit from the professional and industry experience as well as from the networks of their mentors,” said Salline Handa, MentorMe Kenya Country Programme Lead.
By Hamdi Mohamud
