KCB Foundation has partnered with GIZ to sponsor students for vocational training at leading Kenyan tertiary learning institutions.

KCB Foundation’s 2jiajiri programme and GIZ E4D/SOGA programme- Employment and Skills for Eastern Africa – Kenya Initiative have sponsored students in the project dubbed Skills and Enterprise Development to increase their employability and income generation.

A total of 1,223 applicants were interviewed in August 2017 out of which 556 comprising 478 male and 78 female aged between 18 and 35 years were onboarded onto various institutions.

The Skills and Enterprise Development project broadly seeks to increase employability and income generation for 4, 000 youth in the informal sector (2,000 in construction and 2,000 in agriculture sector) in Kenya. Specifically, the project aims to secure employment and self-employment for the youth in the construction sector and as agro-entrepreneurs. This will be achieved through practical oriented vocational training, life skills, work readiness training and enterprise development skills necessary to drive employment and wealth creation in the construction and agriculture sectors.

The applicants were selected based on the following criteria: Kenyan youth, aged 18-35 years old, in possession of a National ID, Certificate of Good Conduct and at least Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) certificate or above.  Applicants from vulnerable backgrounds and People Living with Disability were given priority.

The scholarship is funding practical oriented vocational training to the youth in the construction and agriculture subsectors. In the construction subsector, the students are receiving training in masonry, carpentry, plumbing, electrical installation, metalwork, roofing, painting and tile laying. In the agricultural sector the emphasis is on hydroponics and aquaponics; innovative modern crop and fish farming methods respectively.

Students sponsored for agribusiness (hydroponic farming) course are undertaking their studies at Miramar International College in Nairobi while those in the construction trade have been on boarded at Eldoret National Polytechnic, Kenya Christian Industrial Training College, Eastlands College of Technology, Kabete National Polytechnic, Nyeri National Polytechnic, Kisumu National Polytechnic, PC Kinyanjui Technical Training Institute and Coast National Polytechnic.

The beneficiaries will undergo a 6 months training that will also include industrial attachment for hands-on training in their respective fields. At the end of their course the students will sit for the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) grade 3 examination, after which successful graduates will be enrolled for the KCB Foundation business development services support. During the year-long incubation KCB Foundation will extend asset finance, start-up capital, working capital and management support to the entrepreneurs.