Youth in the country have been urged to be innovative in this era of job scarcity so as to make significant economic strides.
The Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs Nadia Ahmed asked the young people to make good use of the various government empowerment funds and programmes to improve their talents and abilities.
“As young people you should disassociate yourselves from drug and substance abuse, desist from being individualistic and being greedy,” she said.
Nadia asked the youth to take their destinies into their own hands by coming out with innovative ideas so as to establish their own businesses for economic emancipation.
She spoke in Mombasa at the Swahilipot Hub on Sunday when she attended a youth event dubbed ‘Kenya is me youth dialogue’.
She was accompanied by Members of Parliament Badi Twalib (Jomvu) and Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita), Mombasa Deputy Governor William Kingi and Mombasa County Assembly Speaker Haroub Khatri.
Others were Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Josiah Moriasi, Secretary for Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the President Mukhtar Ogle and patron of Swahilipot Hub Mahmud Noor.
The CAS challenged the youth to embrace technology as it is the only direction the world is heading on matters of innovation, job and wealth creation.
She asked the youth across the country to be proactive and visit the offices of affirmative funds so as to learn what opportunities are available for their economic growth.
‘Kenya is me youth dialogue’ is a campaign to sensitise the young people to seize the many opportunities and programmes offered at the national and county levels and will be held across the country.
Moriasi on his part lauded the youth in Mombasa County for their high uptake and repayment of loans from the youth enterprise development fund in the county.
He urged the youth to think outside the box and be innovative and asked them to be committed and dedicated to serving their country.
Moriasi advised the youth to start their own small businesses with money from the revolving fund observing that with time it would grow for them to reap the desired benefits.
“We have 19,000 youth in Mombasa County who have borrowed loans to the tune of Sh.467 million and we are happy the repayment of the loans stands at 92 per cent which is impressive,” said Moriasi.
Ogle urged the youth to be conscious of the digital revolution and become young employers through entrepreneurship and innovation.
He said the youth in this digital era should improve on their entrepreneurship and innovations and create jobs for their fellow young people.
