The government through the Ministry of Information, Communications and Digital Economy (MICDE) has reaffirmed its commitment to equipping the youth with digital skills for digitally-enabled jobs and digital entrepreneurship in order to address the problem of unemployment in the country.
Speaking in Eldoret during the 3rd Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) Eldoret Campus Graduation Ceremony, the MICDE Cabinet Secretary, Eliud Owalo pointed out that the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) has prioritized the Digital Superhighway and Creative Economy.
He indicated that his Ministry has recognized the crucial role of reliable internet connectivity across the country and is taking the lead in laying 100,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable within the next 5 years.
The CS said there is a concerted effort to establish 25,000 WiFi hotspots nationwide with particular emphasis on public spaces such as markets and bus termini.
“We have already embarked on the process of ensuring enhanced internet connectivity all over the country, we are setting up digital hubs up to the Ward and Village level where the youth in this country can access free internet and train on digital space skills and we will connect them to digital jobs,” he noted.
He mentioned that the government is collaborating with the Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions (TVETs) to set up 1450 digital hubs, including initiatives like the Jitume Kazi Labs Initiative and Ajira Digital Program.
These efforts are designed to empower our youth with the digital skills needed to seize the abundant opportunities in the digital landscape.
At the same time, the government is actively promoting E-commerce through a comprehensive E-commerce Strategy, complemented by the implementation of a National Addressing System which aims to support digital entrepreneurship, particularly among the tech-savvy youth.
He hinted that there is an ongoing collaboration with the private sector to facilitate the availability of affordable smartphones, a move aimed at transitioning the youth from learners to instant earners.
The CS affirmed that the government is keen to bridge the digital divide, empower the youth with essential digital skills, and create an enabling environment for digital entrepreneurship.
“We are not only connecting the nation but also propelling our youth towards economic empowerment and self-reliance,” said CS Owalo.
He noted that the government is moving towards leveraging digital space where there are enormous opportunities and that it is crucial for the youth to acquire digital skills in order to get employment in the digital space.
He lauded the initiative which he said has managed to earn about 119,000 youth with digital employment earning a maximum of up to an equivalent of Sh200, 000 monthly as they work online for global technological companies right from their homes here in Kenya.
“This initiative is a game changer to address the unemployment problem that we have in the country. You can’t believe those who completed their form four last year and on boarded to this programme earn an equivalent of Sh 200,000 per month,” he explained.
The CS alluded that they have partnered with members of parliament in their respective constituencies to help them in putting up the facilities where the Ministry of ICT team will deploy the devices in order to train the youth for free and also connect them with online jobs.
“We have managed to train about 500,000 youth and we have equally and correspondingly managed to connect 119,000 of them to digital jobs. They are here in the Villages but working with global technological companies in America, Australia, Belgium, Singapore and others,” said Owalo.
By Ekuwam Sylvester
