Kwale-based Australian mining firm Base Titanium has launched a vocational skills empowerment programme to reduce the high rate of unemployment in the coastal county.
The mining firm located in Msambweni sub-county of Kwale, simply known as Base, produces ilmenite, rutile, and zircon, which are all considered critical minerals.
Base held its first graduation for youth sponsored under the ‘Community Skills Programme’, a training initiative devised to support youth from villages neighbouring the Kwale mine site to acquire vocational skills in various trades including engineering, carpentry, welding, masonry, refrigeration and air conditioning, beauty therapy, tailoring, and dressmaking, among other practical skills.
Youth selected from the community are enrolled in local vocational training institutes to economically empower them by building their technical skills based on market needs.
The graduation saw 43 local youth from villages in Msambweni sub-county awarded with trade certificates and receive different working tools following months of training at the Ukunda Vocational Training Centre.
Each of the beneficiaries received apprenticeship tools and equipment to go and start up their own work and businesses. The certification ceremony at the end of the programme was meant to recognise the participants of the pilot phase of the project and name them as champions of the community.
The ceremony was attended by Base Titanium General Manager (GM) External Affairs Simon Wall and Msambweni Sub County Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Kipkech Lotiatia.
Wall said Base is excited about changing young people’s lives through its inaugural community skills program aimed at training youths on various vocational skills. “We are determined to improve the capacity of the youth to be prepared and equipped for a productive and fulfilling life,” he said.
He congratulated the graduating students and implored them to apply the skills acquired to justify the time and resources invested in the training. “This initiative is aimed at equipping and empowering the youth with skills in the field of technical and vocational education and training to help them live dignified lives,” he said.
He said the project is being implemented across Msambweni sub-county, where there is high youth unemployment and lack of economic opportunities.
“The new community skills programme seeks to remove barriers to employment for the local youth by giving them access to skills training and creating livelihood opportunities,” he said, adding that a further 75 youngsters are currently receiving similar training in different skills.
Wall said the mining company has found that the majority of the youth have attended school, but the quality of their education has left them lacking the skills necessary to be self-employed.
The top mining officer said trainees, once equipped with appropriate skills, retain the skills permanently, noting that Base is determined to make a difference and solve youth unemployment and upscale skills development and subsequently job creation.
He challenged the 43 pioneer graduates to train others and be employers of labour promising that the mining firm will continue to provide skill training to the local youths.
The DCC lauded the programme saying it was geared towards achieving improved livelihoods for the unemployed youth as well as reducing poverty. He has stressed on the need for local youths to embrace vocational training and acquire skills to be independent.
Lotiatia said the objectives of the programme would, in the long run, change the status of the beneficiaries to be productive and contribute positively to the economy of their communities.
He said due to lack of white collar jobs, the local youths must embrace skill acquisition to eke out a living, adding that local youth do not have the financial means to acquire vocational skills and urging the mining company to invest more in training them.
The administrator asked the local youths to utilize the opportunity to acquire hands-on and practical skills to effectively participate in the local economy. He said the skills acquired would help empower many vulnerable youth to find decent jobs in the labour market or become self-employed.
By Hussein Abdullahi