The government is working to solve the high unemployment rate in the country by offering jobs to one million youths through a digital programme.
ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru revealed that the government will engage educational institutions and local companies to help bridge the unemployment gap through the Ajira Digital platform.
The programme is targeting at least one million jobs for the youth who will earn a decent wage from the platform annually.
Mucheru stated that the Ajira programme has so far absorbed 49 of the 67% trainees who have started making money from the platform after bidding.
The CS also acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic has rendered many youths in the country jobless with the economy being severely affected.
"The Coronavirus pandemic has adversely impacted a situation that was already grim. Approximately one million graduates enter the job market every year, yet the economy does not create enough jobs to accommodate them," he noted.
Mucheru also commended the private online job linkages such as Brighter Monday, Onyesha, Kazi Remote, TrueLink and iBuild.
Ajira is currently working with Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) and technology training institute eMobilis through support from the MasterCard Foundation's Young Africa Works to help youths secure jobs.
Kepsa has been instrumental in the creation of jobs on both private and public sector while eMobilis manages the human resource that the programme requires to run its centres.
Ajira currently has 300 Youth Empowerment Centres where Kenyans can access the internet, computers, training and mentorship.
About 100 youth have been hired to run the Ajira Youth Empowerment Centres with 50 trainees brought in to support the implementation of the programme.
Kenya is a country of the youth according to the 2019 Population and Census results which shows that 75% of the 47.6 million population is under the age of 35.
The government through the Ministry of Labour is seeking to simplify the process of securing jobs abroad to help solve the unemployment crisis in the country.
