By Macharia Kamau
The private sector has been urged to tap youthful talent in training institutions to create employment for graduates.
Higher Education minister Margaret Kamar says the Government still faces the challenge of high unemployment among the youth, and was supporting efforts towards self-employment.
Speaking on Thursday evening when Unilever announced the winners of IdeaTrophy, a marketing strategy competition, she urged the private sector to increase their linkage with institutions of higher learning to ensure they produce graduates relevant to the job market.
IdeaTrophy sought to tap creative marketing ideas from university students.
The best team in the competition, launched on May 22, came from Maseno University.
Moraa Osoro, Isaac Ouko, and Elizabeth Thiaka whose idea of selling Rexona products in value packs was voted the best, walked away with iPads and the grand prize of a sponsored tour of Unilever South Africa.
The competition attracted 512 teams, each with three members, drawn from Maseno, Egerton, Moi, Kenyatta University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, USIU, University of Nairobi, Daystar and Strathmore.
The task was to develop a marketing strategy to get their fellow students to buy and use Rexona and make it part of their daily grooming package.
“We got diverse ideas ranging from use of technology, loyalty schemes, sampling among many others,” said Ellen Bvekerwa, HR Director East and Southern Afr?ca.
Kamar said the completion provided learning for the students and stimulated enterprise.
“We still faces the challenge of unemployment of graduates and that’s why the government supports any efforts to reach out to the youth to promote self-employment.”
She said the future of Kenya’s growth and competitiveness will depend on the capacity to innovate, adding that the Government was promoting this through the Vision 2030 economic blueprint.
“We are investing in creativity and innovation,” Kamar said, and urged other private sectors to find ways of tapping the talent among youth.
IdeaTrophy submissions were evaluated based on creativity, relevance, simplicity, originality and potential to reach the highest target audience, said Ms Bvekerwa.
“This is a development programme designed to create an out-of-the-classroom learning experience that focuses on the development of personal and entrepreneurial competencies among graduates,” she said.
