Jobless Kenyans now have a chance to try their luck in the start-up community after a report indicated that opportunities within the sector would continue to grow in 2023.
The report titled 'The Kenyan Startup Ecosystem Report' produced by Disrupt Africa, a tech publication, indicated that the available 308 start-ups operating in Kenya today provided employment to 11,462 individuals.
A majority of the employees worked in the Fintech (3,100), agri-tech (2,065), E-commerce (1,815), Logistics (834) and E-health (742).
Other sectors that employ a majority of Kenyans included Ed-tech, recruitment, energy, marketing as well as mobility.
"The 308 Kenyan tech startups tracked by this report employ a combined total of 11,462 people, far fewer than the 19,334 employed by their counterparts in Nigeria but marginally more than the 11,330 jobs provided by South African tech startups. The average headcount per startup stands at 37.
"The fintech sector accounts for 27 per cent of Kenyan startup employment, with 3,100 jobs, while between them the fintech, agri-tech, and e-commerce and retail-tech sectors account for over 50 per cent of jobs," read the report in part.
Fintech, which is the leading employer and populated by 93 start-ups of the 308 operating locally, is also projected to continually employ workers into 2023.
"Echoing this progression in the ecosystem, fintech is also the leading sector for job creation. Kenyan fintech's provide 3,100 jobs (27 per cent of jobs created by startups); coming to an average of 33 employees per startup," added the report.
In general, it is estimated that the start-up industry will continuously hire after recording an increase in job creation despite a drop in the launch of new start-ups per year.
2017 and 2020 recorded the highest number of start-ups launched within the country at 12.3 per cent which dropped to 6.8 per cent in 2021 and 3.2 per cent in 2022.
Since 2015, the sector has also raised Ksh157 billion in funding ranking the second behind Nigeria
The report raised hope over the battered Kenyan economy that saw the unemployment rate rise to 5.7 per cent in 2021 from 2.8 per cent in 2013 according to the World Bank.
President William Ruto on Sunday, December 11, 2022 revealed that the government is in the final stages of setting up a startup fund to help tech firms grow.
The president told Kenyans that, just like the hustlers loan facility, the start-up fund will be disbursed on a need basis after serious evaluation of proposals.
“Aside from the Hustler Fund, we are going to have startup fund. The preliminary work has been done and shortly we will take the bill to Parliament so that we can de-risk all startups and make sure that they are supported,” president Ruto stated.
Ruto noted that the government will soon establish a legal framework that will assist startups in the tech space to grow their ideas and innovations.
