World Bank offers 750 Kenyan youth chance to win up to USD36,000 seed capital to tackle unemployment
To kick start the programme the World Bank has released Sh15 billion ($150,000,000) it had committed to the project in 2016.
750 youths with creative business ideas stand to win up to Sh3.6 million grants each for creating start-ups or expanding their ventures through a programme funded by the World Bank, meant to fuel entrepreneurship and tackle unemployment.
The business ideas competition is part of the wider Kenya Youth Employment and Opportunities Project (KYEOP) announced in 2016, geared to stem rising joblessness and promote shared prosperity.
Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), which will oversee the competition, yesterday invited bids from prospective organisers.
“MSEA seeks the services of a management consulting firm (consultants) to catalyse youth entrepreneurship for job creation through a business plan competition (BPC). As part of KYEOP, the BPC will expand new and existing youth-led enterprises with potential for job creation,” the agency said in a notice.
Each of the winners will pocket a cash grant of between $9,000 (Sh918,000) and $36,000 (Sh3.6 million) based on the strength of their business pitch.
Participants will be taken through three rounds of vetting by a team of Independent Judges who will be tasked with selecting 750 successful candidates from a pool 12,000 candidates sourced from across the country.
Despite being East Africa’s largest economy, Kenya is the jobless capital of East Africa.
Four out of every ten Kenyans of working age have no jobs, the worst level of unemployment in the East Africa region, according to the 2017 Human Development Index (HDI).
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