Government banks on youth to drive industrialisation

CS Adan Mohammed Industry, Investment and Trade Cabinet Secretary PHOTO: COURTESY

The Government is banking on technical training to accelerate economic growth in line with the Vision 2030 blueprint. Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, Adan Mohamed said the vibrant youthful population is expected to play a key role in stimulating industrial growth.

He said the Government was investing heavily in technical and vocational training and education (TVET) among youths to arm them with technical skills to spur innovation.  

Speaking at the ongoing Hands on The Future National TVET Conference in Nairobi, Mr Mohamed said the Government had pumped Sh2.5 billion into revamping technical institutions and is set to increase budgetary allocations to training institutions in the next financial year.

"TVET has been critical in the transformation of many economies and poverty eradication," he said. "That's why, as a country, we need to retool our economic and social policies to have inclusive and sustainable economic."

The TVET conference has brought together public and private sector players to deliberate on how to remodel technical training to meet the  labour demands of technological innovation and flexibility. "Without innovation," he said, "industrialisation will not happen and development will thus not be achieved."

He said the textile industry, for example, requires 20,000 machinists over the next 12 months, an indication of the skills gaps in the market. He said with a pool of highly qualified technical personnel, Kenya would reap from a shift in global labour trends that is expected to see over 100 million jobs move from China to other countries as the cost of labour increases in the Asian economic power house.

Speaking at the event, Dr Kevit Desai, the chairman of the Permanent Working Group (PWG) on TVET, which has organised the conference with TVET Authority, said there are gaps for critical skills in the Kenyan economy, which need to be filled to have sustainable growth.

"We want private sector to work with academia to produce relevant skills while the government should provide enabling policy environment and funding," he said. The conference, which opened on Thursday, ends on Saturday.