The youth have been encouraged to make use of the digital space to seek online employment and earn income through online work.
The Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) for ICT and Broadcasting, Ms Maureen Mbaka, said the Ajira Digital Program initiated by the government provides tools, training and mentorship needed for young people to work digitally on various opportunities, and urged the youth to access the website through ajiradigital.go.ke.
Mbaka said the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs has facilitated ICT infrastructure and services to empower the youth to create opportunities for themselves in order to participate in national development as well as use internet as a source of livelihood.
Some the opportunities include data entry and management, virtual assistants, transcription, digital marketing and ecommerce, writing and translation, proof reading research, blogs, web content and copywriting among others.
The CAS who was speaking during the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) graduation ceremony held virtually, said the ministry is always proud to see the institute’s graduates making positive impact in the media and ICT industries, while creating job opportunities in the ICT sector.
“I encourage KIMC management to consider putting up an Ajira Club where students can get trained on digital work. I have seen many students from other tertiary institutions paying their own fees using money they get from Ajira,” said Mbaka.
In a bid to make the youth innovative, the CAS said the ICT ministry has also created whitebox.go.ke website, a one stop shop where young people can share, sell their idea, innovation, invention and solution for support and promotion, including facilities awarded to qualified start – up.
At the same time, she assured that selected innovations will get access to expert guidance from a network of industry, legal, management and finance experts who will guide them on financing opportunities and access to market strategies.
“The government will also assist the chosen innovators with professional guidance and support to attract relevant financial support and offer access to markets, as well as link them to investors,” reiterated Mbaka.
However, she noted that the innovations and products that will be considered are those that focus on the Big Four Agenda, hence addressing government priorities and challenges.
The CAS also underscored the government’s commitment to empower the youth and harness their potential for the realization of sustainable development through the Kenya Youth Development Policy 2019.
Meanwhile, Mbaka congratulated the graduands, while urging them to utilize the skills they have acquired to do quality professional work and not to write hate speech, fake news and altering pictures for selfish purposes.
By Bernadette Khaduli
