NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 21 – The German Agency for International Corporation (GIZ) and Mentor Me Kenya has launched a mentorship program to help young entrepreneurs and job seekers gain necessary skills to succeed in job hunting and business ventures.
The pilot phase of the program is targeting 200 Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) owners and 300 job seekers across the country.
The mentees will be categorized into two; job seekers and business owners with the minimum age requirement to join the program capped at 18 years.
Business owners additionally should have been running a revenue business in Kenya for the past one year with the potential for growth.
The business owners will be required to upload their details on the Mentor Me Kenya website and thereafter be matched with Successful business owners and entrepreneurship gurus from Kenya and Germany who for a period of one year will guide them on sales pitching, bookkeeping, and other skills they need to boost their enterprises.
“We have a pool of mentors from Kenya and Germany who are willing to walk the journey with MSME owners in the country. We are hoping that by the time we are done the 300 business owners will be able to pitch better, bargain better and scale better, ” said Mentor me Kenya Program Lead Salline Handa.
The job seekers category on the other hand is targeting unemployed youth with a minimum qualification of a university degree.
The job seekers will be trained on resume writing and presentation, interview skills and other skill sets to give them an edge in the job market.
Martha Murunga a job seeker who is enrolled in the Mentor Me Kenya program has hailed it as a game changer owing to the immense skills she has gained over time.
“From the mentorship training you will learn a lot. You will learn how to restructure your CV and interview. You will be able to learn how to network and succeed in your career,” said Murunga.
To join the program as a mentor you must be living in Germany or Kenya.
All mentors are additionally required to have at least 5 years of professional experience in industry or professional field.
GIZ Country Director Bodo Innik has expressed optimism that the program will elevate unemployment in the Country by churning out job ready graduates into the labour market.
Data by the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) shows about one million young Kenyans join the job market each year.
Even so, the country’s unemployment rates for all age groups increased from six per cent in 2020 to 6.6 per cent in 2021 and young people tend to be particularly affected by unemployment.
