Startup Kenya

As we all know by now, at SKY TRUST we are all about youth empowerment. After my inspirational moment in my last post (your welcome), my attention was drawn to the evaluation of the Kenyan job market and its limits towards young people. Thanks to the restrictive requirements from employers and lack of application feedback, young people are being limited in the job market, they are not being provided with the support (at least none that I know of) they need to transition from education to work.  Lack of transparency in recruitment processes and a failure to tailor interviews for people who have no prior experience of work limits young people from accessing employment. Young people are caught up in a 'vicious cycle' as individuals without access to work opportunities as they are turned away from roles requiring experience. This factor prevents business from benefiting from a diverse pool of talent. So could it be a case of mismatched expectation? Its seems to m...

More young people are idle than ever before.  This answer those who have been wondering aloud how bases such as outside Hilton hotel are sometimes packed to capacity with humanity  (n o, most of the people are not picnicking ).  Just walk the streets of Nairobi, and you will find idlers  outside offices, hotels, stalls and restaurants.  One thing that sticks in my mind is mainly the psychological effects of youth unemployment. We all know how frustrating and boring it is to be idle. Not only does it crush your self esteem, you end up feeling worthless and uninspired.  While y oung people go to school, finish and expect to join the job market in order to  meet  their obligations and expectations towards society, they later on discovered how without a job how unforgiving society can be. After a long period of absentee paychecks and diminished savings, a deterioration of the individual begins at the sociological and psychological level...

Starting a business is not about how intelligent or wealthy one is, but about the practical skills and determination to do what you have to do. Young people in this country need to be show they have skill and talent to turn their lives into something positive.    Many young people are desperate to turn their lives around but find that they are excluded from formal employment because of their background – a lack of qualifications.They find themselves in a deep hole where all options appear to be closed. Personally, I think the jobs market is making a permanent shift and that in future people who can offer their own services will be in the strongest position. The traditional workplace, is evolving and there is already a trend towards more work being outsourced, thus the traditional long-term employment can't be relied on. The only way to be secure is to have the skills and knowledge to create security for oneself, and entrepreneur-ism  is the way to do this. Start...

I would like to take this moment and appreciate the goodwill of His Excellence President Uhuru and his Deputy Vice President Ruto for proposing 6 billion worth of funds to women and youth. What intrigues me though is whether youth need more money or more skills. Much as giving young people money to start a business so as to create jobs for themselves, is a great move, priority should be place on equipping them with skills that are needed to empower them in that business.  From observation, it seems that most youth groups, are set up to take out loans because they are available to them, but fail in business, due to lack of cohesion within the group.Because the group was set up for the transaction process (getting the money) its almost impossible for them to make repayments of the loan. Of course not all youth groups go through this, they are some successful stories, but they seem the minority. Kenya's youth need capacity building (skills), especially on the iss...

Kenya has, 80% unemployed youth between the ages of 15-34 years old (study by UNDP). Basically this means that more than 1.8 millon unemployed are young people. Youth unemployment is the most pressing issue for young people in everyday life. Promises (e.g., free education,  diverse  economy that is less dependent on agriculture, so that they’re are jobs in other industries for young people, who flock the urban center) have been made to create jobs, including attempts to diagnose and fix the problems causing youth unemployment. T he youth however are aware that the promises are often forgotten right after they have been made. Most have been unable to find full-time jobs, instead resulting to minor jobs such as selling fruit on the roadside. It is one of the informal jobs known as "tarmacking" – walking the streets looking for day-to-day tasks, which are low paid. Were as  there is seemingly good intentions to empowering the youth, more positive impact is needed o...

Its a beautiful Friday morning this side of Africa, the sun is out, weather not as gloomy as it has been the past days. What does that all have to do with this post? Everything.... especially that's its a great day to be alive and getting something going that is helping in making other peoples lives better. While alive (work with me), I recently came across a story about young people now engaging in business deals with prominent business people in order to attain state contracts. How it  works, a prominent dealer, targets a disadvantage young entrepreneur, with the belief that he/she will not be found out because they lack the scent of "obviousness" and the capability to exploit the procurement process, making it quite easy for them to be granted the contract. Why do they do so? Because they are rules that govern the procurement procedure in Kenya, so that dishonest business people don't benefit all the time. So sponsoring young less fortunate people to...

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Harry Karanja, for donating his blog to Startup Kenya Youth Trust SKY TRUST, as the French would say it, "merci beaucoup" . As highlighted in the previous post, Startup Kenya Youth Trust - SKY TRUST is all about helping talented Kenyan young entrepreneurs achieve their potential, by giving them economic empowerment through business seed funding.   Startup Kenya Youth Trust Creating Economic Opportunities Took as a minute to come up with the logo, but eventually it came to us, as in a video, as in a drama (smiles). While starting out, the twist to it, is SKY TRUST takes a more exciting and engaging approach as opposed to boring and rudimentary process, normally associated with charity activities (or not??). Either way expect to be intrigued by our daily growth and experiences.You will be kept on the loop of all the magnificent events/activities that will be unfolding. Of course you are also wel...

The last post as Harry Since 2006 I have enjoyed your company and patronage as I put down my thoughts in black and white on this blog. I started this blog to share my experiences in entrepreneurship but I also ended up learning, making new friends and developing my own ideas on what I really wanted to do. For a long time I have known that the knowledge and experiences I have been fortunate enough to acquire must not be confined within me, but must be used to generate wealth, success, and fulfillment for others. Today I therefore wish to announce that I will be donating my blog and twitter handle to the charitable trust Startup Kenya Youth (SKY) Trust .  I look forward to continuing our engagement under the banner of SKY Trust. A bit about SKY Trust. SKY Trust was founded in 2013 by Harry Karanja. SKY Trust's goal is to act as a catalyst to entrepreneurship among people under the age of thirty Harry started his first business when he was fifteen, retailing bread...