Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria on Tuesday, July 25 announced plans to launch the Private Sector Internships and Jobs portal aimed at consolidating internships and job opportunities for Kenyans.
In a statement, the Cabinet Secretary, said that the goal behind the initiative was to create a platform to solve youth the rising cases of unemployment in Kenya using digital tools, policy reform, and public-private partnerships.
"The meeting mapped the way forward on implementation of the Kenya Internships and Jobs Initiative (KIJI) as a transparent, accountable, and measurable web-based application to connect talent and job opportunities for the Kenyan youth," Kuria stated after a meeting with various stakeholders.
The meeting convened a diverse group of participants, including government officials from the Ministry of ICT, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Public Service Commission (PSC), Konza Technopolis Development Authority, and KenInvest.
Representing the private sector were Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) officials and the Business Process Outsourcing Association of Kenya (BPOAK).
Worth noting is that KEPSA boasts an extensive membership comprising over 400 corporates and 80 Business Management organizations (BMO's). On the other hand, BPOAK, with a membership of 50, employs over 40,000 Kenyans.
Unemployment
Data published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) covering the quarter running between October to December 2022 showed there were 2.97 million unemployed Kenyans. This represented a 2.94% growth from the previous quarter.
The increased unemployment was attributed to elevated inflation and reduced activity in the dominant agricultural sector.
Notably, the Kenya Kwanza government has reiterated its keenness to create more jobs for the youth. President William Ruto has signed several bilateral agreements with foreign countries to employ Kenyans.
Some of the countries Ruto signed deals with include Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, Barbados, and the United States.
