Savvy to train 1 000 start-up founders in Kenya

An additional 1 000 young Kenyans will be empowered to start their own start-ups following a partnership agreement between Savvy and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). This will be through the Ajira digital programme, a government-led initiative.

KEPA is an apex organisation serving the private sector in Kenya. The partnership will boost local businesses with opportunities for training, networking, financial linkages, mentorship and coaching, access to markets, value chains, and access to investment.

This, as Ajira strives to position Kenya as a choice labour destination for multinational companies while growing local and regional companies and the public sector to create digital and digitally-enabled work.

Chidi Nwaogu, the co-founder of Savvy, says Ajira participants will be trained to build impact-driven and sustainable businesses.

“Having trained and supported 506 Kenyan entrepreneurs already through the Savvy programme, our partnership with KEPSA seeks to take that number to at least 1 500 Kenyan entrepreneurs by the end of 2022.

“By providing these entrepreneurs with training in business development, communications, and product design, Savvy will support them to become successful entrepreneurs and changemakers in Kenya and on the African continent.”

According to Rachel Gathu, the private sector engagement and partnerships lead at KEPSA, they are constantly facilitating linkage between organisations like Savvy to create lasting and meaningful partnerships to add value to each other.”

“Ajira is an initiative of the government of Kenya under the ministry of ICT, innovations, and youth affairs that is being funded by Mastercard Foundation and implemented by different partners including KEPSA. The project’s mission is to enable five million Kenyans to access locally available digital and digitally-enabled jobs through linkages and digital skills training.”

Backed by the Roddenberry Foundation, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and the International Telecommunication Union, Savvy was founded to help at least 100 000 unemployed professionals around the world transition into entrepreneurship.

The programme equips them with the knowledge, skills, tools, resources, support network, and community to build sustainable, innovative, and profitable impact-driven businesses, as a way to reduce global unemployment that has been broadened by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Available in 111 languages, the Savvy programme has received over 90 000 applications, and has selected and trained over 7 500 individuals in 156 countries, who have gone on to build over 2 200 businesses across diverse sectors in different regions.

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