Youth trained for online jobs

Nakuru, Saturday, June 10, 2023

KNA by Anne Mwale /Dennis Rasto 

Over 60 youthful women from Nakuru County have received training from Ajira Digital Programme (ADP) and Young African Women Initiative (YAWI) to explore job and e-commerce opportunities in the digital space.

Under the theme ‘Empowering young women with digital skills for gender equality,’ the trainees also shared experiences, opportunities and peer to peer mentorship to help them attain individual and collective growth in the online sector.

YAWI Executive Director Ms. Fidelis Karanja said the joint venture with ADP is seeking to hook up more than 500 youthful women to online jobs.

The beneficiaries were trained on how to find online jobs and monetizing access to the Internet.

According to Ms. Karanja the initial batch would serve as Trainers of Trainees (TOT’s) and would be tasked with mentoring other youth interested in earning a living through online work.

 “The online platform training opens up the young women’s minds for jobs in scholarly writing, proposal writing, e-marketing and blogging. The training is aimed at providing them with alternative sources of income and creating platforms of entrepreneurship,” she stated. 

Speaking at the Kuresoi South Ajira hub, Ms. Karanja observed that though the bulk of online work is created by companies based in the largest economies of the world, most of it is completed by people living in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe.

Kenya's Internet penetration rate is about 85.3 percent according to the regulator Communications Authority of Kenya, a high compared with 28.7 percent for the continent as a whole.

The Ajira Digital Programme is a project of the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and the Digital Economy in partnership with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) aimed at positioning Kenya as a choice labour destination for multinational companies.

It also encourages local companies and the public sector to create digital work opportunities for young people with a recent report indicating that the programme has created 1.2 million jobs since inception.

Ms. Karanja said the Covid-19 pandemic had unlocked numerous opportunities in the digital space which if fully exploited would reduce youth unemployment and increase household incomes. 

She added that online job opportunities had also increased in logistics, e-commerce, farming, taxi hailing and education sectors among others following the outbreak of the pandemic.

The Executive Director indicated that most of the efforts aimed at leapfrogging Kenya's economy in the midterm through provision of jobs are anchored on information and technology as the biggest enabler for employment creation.

“With about 1 million people entering the job market yearly in Kenya, the need for gainful employment cannot be overemphasized. YAWI is working with the Ajira Digital Programme to ensure that all women whether in rural or urban settings have equal contact with online works. The trainings are fashioned to provide them with the necessary tools, training and mentorship to enable them to work and earn a decent income,” stated Ms. Karanja. 

This comes at a time when the disparity between men and women in relation to adoption of-and their relative opportunities to access digital technology remains a major barrier to equal participation in online work and e-commerce.

Kuresoi South Ajira Digital programme Center Mr David Mburu said the training was aimed at promoting new and flexible forms of employment such as micro-work and online contracting to create employment and grow the economy.

“Through Ajira Digital Curriculum, the young women are being trained on digital jobs such as data entry, content writing, transcription and software development. We are providing youth with education and training on online freelancing and entrepreneurial skills. Concerted efforts are being made to change the perception of on-line work to make it acceptable as a formal employment that provides decent income,” said Mburu. 

He added that promoting digital literacy among women would also prevent, address and respond to online cyber bullying, sexual exploitation and abuse of children in the country.

Mburu observed that there were more than 50,000 job opportunities on the online platform and encouraged unemployed graduates to apply.

"We can testify how youth have been trained in soft skills such as how to respond to clients, how to reply emails, professional etiquette among others. This is a timely opportunity for unemployed youths in the County to use their ICT skills to create job opportunities and shun crime,” stated the Centre Manager. 

Mburu disclosed that a large number of youths in the six Ajira Digital innovation hubs spread out in Nakuru have a place to work in and earn a living. 

He added that these resource centres not only help those working there but also the community around the facilities as they have free internet.

The Center Manager stated that the future of work and the country's economy lay in ICT.

"We have heard of the narrative where 15 years ago, the energy sector was the world's economic driver through extractive industries with energy companies like Shell and BP driving the world's economy. Now, the information and technology edge drives the world's economy with Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Apple companies sitting at the top as the world's economic giants, leading employers and generating unprecedented revenue,” explained Mburu. 

A trainee Ms. Rael Moraa said with increased awareness about modern smart technologies linked to the internet, young women would be positioned to keep themselves safe from online harm.

Ms. Moraa observed that the migration to digital space for learning, working and digital business had exposed many to cyber bullies who use fake identities to lure children and adolescents to drugs and sexual abuse under the roof of their parents and caregivers.

Courtesy ; K. N. A