1,844 youth have graduated from the KCB Foundation’s 2Jiajiri youth technical skills and job creation programme in Nairobi. They graduated from 14 Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) centres across the county.
The training is courtesy of a year-long partnership between KCB Foundation and Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Work’s programme. The partnership aims to enable young people to access dignified work and increase income generation by skilling 8,500 youth in various economic sectors, targeting 70% women, leading to the creation of 43,000 jobs in the country.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony at the Nairobi University square, KCB Bank Kenya Managing Director Mrs. Annastacia Kimtai said: “We are deliberate about addressing youth unemployment and unlocking their potential through technical vocational skills training. This is why as a bank, we pair this up with enterprise development training to equip our youth to set up their own enterprises in key economic sectors with high market demand.”
During the event, 738 business start-up toolkits were handed over to graduands to kickstart their entrepreneurial journey.
By focusing on enterprise development across key economic sectors, including agribusiness, construction, automotive engineering, beauty and personal care, and ICT, the 2Jiajiri programme seeks to unlock sustainable income opportunities and catalyze the creation of thousands of jobs across the country.
The project offers support in technical vocational education and training of vulnerable youth in short courses for six to nine months. This is achieved through vocational training, life skills, work readiness training, and enterprise development skills.
Each training intake consists of six months of classroom and three months’ industrial attachment with practical training to address the skills gaps. The trainees are then funneled into employment opportunities once they complete their attachment, and those interested in establishing their micro-enterprises are supported by KCB’s Business Development Services (BDS), equipped with trade-specific toolkits and start-up working capital by KCB Bank through the Foundation.
To date, the 2Jiajiri programme has created over 179,822 jobs, with 40,063 youth receiving hands-on technical and vocational skills training in key industry sectors. KCB has disbursed nearly Ksh. 1.7 Billion in business startup loans and 2,225 startup toolkits issued to enable the youth to deliver high-quality work across their respective trades.
800 youth from Elgeyo Marakwet County recently graduated from the KCB Foundation’s 2Jiajiri vocational training programme. They were drawn from 10 vocational training centers (VTCs) across the county.
KCB Foundation was established in 2007 to implement KCB Bank Group’s corporate social investments. The Foundation’s programmes are designed to address issues of relevance specifically within the thematic areas of enterprise development, education, health, environment, and humanitarian intervention