KENYA’S YOUTH ENTERPRENEURSHIP QUITE WEAK
Posted by African Press International on February 23, 2011
By Harrison Mwirigi Ikunda, API-contributing writer in Kenya
Unemployment remains anathema to many countries of the world. The Tunisian revolution 2011 and the ongoing one in Egypt and the embers for the same in the rest of the Arab world have their roots in the employment crisis and the concomitant economic woes afflicting their population. The social and economic circumstances in the Arab world which are near horrid in terms of progress make the political explosions inevitable.
None of the political leadership in the Arab world can be said to be progressive to inspire a better future. Unfortunately even the
opposition in most of those countries has deep roots in religious fundamentalism which has increasingly entrenched those regimes as none of the global partners has been willing to push the regimes for reforms with the fear that it might inspire the fundamentalists to
take over. But bad things don’t last forever or too long and so the regimes are now in political furnace. These poor economic conditions are not much different with those in sub-Saharan countries, Kenya inclusive. The solutions to these ills have not been forthcoming adequately. It has been feeble and at most failing.
The Kenyan youth enterprise programme propagated by the government has been quite a noble idea. But its reach is low and the strategic direction of the cause quite dismal compared to gargantuan of the problem that is ailing Kenya. Similarly, the Kenyan youth have been unable to create enough impetus in as far as entrepreneurship is concerned. Partly it lies with the small economy that is Kenya, which is quite inadequate to create requisite resources to address the grinding poverty and hopelessness.
Invariably, some of the issues pro-occupying a huge section of Kenyan youths is the job crisis, alcohol, drug abuse, sexually transmitted disease like HIV AIDS, crime and hopelessness. The future stability of Kenya hangs in the hands of this lot. If they are pushed to the economic precipice as it looks more likely, the revolutions happening in the Arab world will be chicken feed in comparison.
The entrepreneurial spirit is there but the nature of it and the strength of the Kenyan economy is making it harder for most of them to make ends meet. Speaking to them across the gender, social spectrum and communities, it shows that desperation is nigh. Moreover, some of the entrepreneurial activities the Kenyan youth are getting into are the traditional businesses already with plenty in precedents. Unlike the American youth who have come up with quite innovative ideas and enterprises like Google, Face book, Twitter and many such new ventures this is hardly the case in Kenya in a good measure. Not that it is bad to walk the already beaten path but a mixture of old types and new innovative businesses would make Kenya tick.
The problem can be traced in both the schooling system which hardly have to capacity to provide room for innovation and the weak Kenyan economy which hardly has capacity to provide room for great innovations no matter how rudimentary. Kenya look set to become a very great net importer of Chinese products. Some of the products sourced from China can easily be, made here but the capacity and resources aren’t there. The challenging economic times only create room for more cheapness and no time for any mind taking time to innovate as it would be a waste time and sure road to poverty. Innovation is hardly rewarded in countries like Kenya, instead punishment into penury is more likely. After all supportive institutions for such innovative ventures is lacking.
However Kenya has one of the most well educated youthful population who can easily transform the nation into an economic powerhouse. Nonetheless without the requisite supportive institutions and funds, hardly would the creativity and innovation inherent in these young people be tapped. The level of entrepreneurial involvement of the young people is quite low and little inspiring, more need to be done.
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The writer is a Consultant and a Researcher working for a Not for Profit Organisation in Kenya.
