Twenty-four young entrepreneurs from the Rift Region have received a total of KES 800,000 from BLAZE by Safaricom at the just concluded creation camp that was held at Eldoret National Polytechnic.
The creation camp, which entailed three days of mentorship and training, saw over 200 youth from the region and its environs engage BLAZE mentor on the skills and knowledge required to succeed in different fields. Attendees also had an opportunity to pitch their business ideas with the top 3 in eight categories winning KES 50,000, 30,000 and 20,000 respectively.
The Eldoret creation camp featured mentors such as Naiboi (Music), Caleb Karuga (Agripreneur), Brian Diang’a (Professional Gamer), Wangari Nyanjui (Entrepreneur) and Joanna Kinuthia (content creator), among others.
Winners in the various categories included, Denis Kipkemboi (Technology), Obadiah Joseph (Creative Arts), Night Yassir Hassan Ali (Fashion), John Rapando (Music), Vincent Andati (Sports), Isaac Yegon (Sales & Production) and Francis Okanga (Film & Photography).
Shirley Kigotho, whose idea on Farm School for the youth and women helped her top the Agribusiness category, had this to say, “I am delighted to have emerged as the overall winner in the Agribusiness category. This win has motivated me to pursue my passion further and I thank BLAZE for developing such a platform that helps young people to grow their talents and create self-employment.”
This year, BYOB has expanded its youth engagement program through increased number of summits and the introduction of the BLAZE E-Sports Tournament and BLAZE LINK, an aggregator of e-learning content, with an aim of reaching more youth across the country.