Businesses in Uasin Gishu County stand to gain value from digitization and innovation while creating jobs for youth
Dr. Ehud Gachugu – Director Ajira Digital and Youth Employment at KEPSA Elizabeth Birgen – ICT Department Uasin Gishu County Peter Kironji – CEO and Founder Twiva Cornellius Kiptoo – Student and Ajira Beneficiary
Worth Noting:
- Speaking during the forum, Dr. Ehud Gachugu, Director of Ajira Digital Program and Youth Employment at the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), said that digitally-enabled start-ups are increasingly becoming the main vehicles through which technology is being converted into economic and social benefits. He said that the digital economy has opened more business opportunities that young people, especially, can take advantage of.
- “The future business environment unlike before has an impact on work, workers, and the workplace. This transition affects both the larger and small enterprises and work opportunities for the youth. Ajira Digital Program catalyzes the value that businesses receive from digitization as well as enhances the creation of jobs for the youth.
Ajira Digital Program in partnership with EldoHub hosted an engaging forum for Business Leaders in Uasin Gishu county at Eka hotel, Eldoret, bringing together local businesses, innovators, youth, county government, and interested investors to explore digital emerging opportunities which could catalyze the growth of businesses, optimize output, expand market reach, increase digital and digitally-enabled work opportunities for young people in the county and help grow the county’s economy.
This business forum was timely given that Eldoret town is gearing towards the attainment of city status. H.E Jonathan Bii-chelilim the Governor of Uasin Gishu, in a recent meeting with the County Inspectorate Officers, reiterated that business entities have to be maintained to realize equality across traders. The Governor called out for the order of doing business to be maintained across the County.
“This is a to-go-to county for investors, given the conducive business environment and the endowment found within the region. Besides the global recognition of Uasin Gishu being a home of champions in the athletes and sports areas, the County is renowned for its large-scale wheat and maize farming. It is endowed with good resources making it one of the bread basket counties in the country producing over 4.5M bags of maize and about 1M bags of wheat. Approximately 80% of the population here depends on agriculture in terms of household income and food security. In addition, the County has the informal sector thriving forming part of the larger economy” said Eng. Martha Cheruto, Uasin Gishu County Executive Committee Member – Trade – while opening the forum.
However, the youth unemployment in the county just like elsewhere in the country is still high which is a call to the private sector, investors, and policymakers to join hands and promote the business environment while creating more work opportunities for the youth.
Speaking during the forum, Dr. Ehud Gachugu, Director of Ajira Digital Program and Youth Employment at the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), said that digitally-enabled start-ups are increasingly becoming the main vehicles through which technology is being converted into economic and social benefits. He said that the digital economy has opened more business opportunities that young people, especially, can take advantage of.
“The future business environment unlike before has an impact on work, workers, and the workplace. This transition affects both the larger and small enterprises and work opportunities for the youth. Ajira Digital Program catalyzes the value that businesses receive from digitization as well as enhances the creation of jobs for the youth. We export labour without necessarily moving people from their geographical locations. On the other hand, companies both locally and globally can access talents through the digital space. To achieve this, we have partnered with digital platforms such as Twiva, Yakazi, Phindor, among others that are present here today to facilitate the digitization of businesses and access to markets and talents” remarked Dr. Gachugu.
Joshua Kemboi, Program Manager at EldoHub explained that the centre has continued to support youth and women with the aim of preparing them to benefit from opportunities that the emerging ICT industry offers and close the skills gap in Africa’s job market. “We run entrepreneurship development programs as well as incubate startups to bring their ideas to life. In addition, through Sasakazi (Now Work), previously known as the digital apprenticeship program, we have been able to link tech talents with businesses to fulfill digital projects such as e-commerce, website development, and digital marketing among others. As a result of the program, we have been able to achieve a 90% job absorption rate and delivered over 300 digital projects for the host SMEs. The platform links businesses with vetted young tech talents such as software developers, digital marketers, data scientists, and graphic designers among others. We now invite businesses who have a digital gap in their businesses to sign up on the Sasakazi platform and we shall match them with vetted digital talents to address their needs said Kemboi. Through the platform, Eldohub is looking to support over 10,000 tech talents with businesses and SMEs in need of digital transformation by 2023.
The forum included an engaging panel discussion from business leaders’ representatives, digital platforms providing digital services as well as youthful digital innovators and startup owners that have embraced digitization.
Peter Kironji, CEO Twiva, a social commerce platform offering digital marketing services, explained to businesses the digitization journey stating that while they face various challenges, access to markets is a common problem. Mr. Kironji advised the businesses on the need to change their mindset and start with what is available such as opening a business page on Facebook. He then explained the importance of building content by packaging their messages to best articulate what they are offering. Consumers make purchasing decisions dependent on the amount of information they have. He encouraged businesses to consider digital platforms that can support them with such services that will help them reach more markets and optimize their margins.
Different business leaders including the GavoFoods Limited Co-Founder, Lilian Bitok, and Director Moiben Connections Limited, Antonio David, explained their fears in digitization and outsourcing of digital talents citing the biggest challenge being issues with trust. They explained that most businesses are prone to risking their data privacy as well as being misguided by platform owners in case they are not acquainted with some technology.
Mumbi Muriuki, Client Relationship Manager, Adept Technologies, a local Business Processing Outsourcing company, explained that such fears can be eliminated when the platform or BPO provides proof of work, shares a portfolio of customers worked with previously as well as having a legally binding agreement to capture the scope of work and arbitration measures.
Businesses are also innovating differently in the digital economy, often leveraging new technologies and big data that allow them to quantify and hone down processes that range from design to the distribution of innovation. Digitization, therefore, is shaping how businesses are structured, how firms interact, and how consumers obtain services, information, and goods. Businesses adapting and leveraging digitization are more likely to become high-growth companies.
Cornellius Kiptoo closed the forum with his success story on how digitization opened business opportunities for him within and outside his town area. The student who is also a co-founder of the Eldoret Professional Plumbers explained that he identified a need in society for plumbing services but did not know how to access the market. He then took advantage of the digital marketing training that Ajira Digital Program was carrying out. He then opened a Facebook page account and with some savings managed to promote the page which has since increased its following to 1.5K. This has given them over ten gigs including some in Kakamega town. From the earnings, Cornellius together with his friends manages to support themselves financially and meet most of their bills.
With this in mind, Ajira Digital Program seeks to promote innovation and the digital economy so as to create sustainable linkages between digital platforms and businesses through enterprise matchmaking.
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