Sasakazi, a UK-funded programme, helps to tackle barriers to decent employment among youth in Kenya including lack of skills and low labour demand.
With unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent, Kenya’s challenge of lack of requisite skills to match the needs in its economy is undeniable.
According to statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the number of jobless people as at December 2022 was in the region above the 2.97 million.
It is this challenge that has prompted the United Kingdom through the United Kingdom Agency for International Development (UKAID) to support Sasakazi, an initiative that seeks to lower the unemployment rate together with partners.
Sasakazi linking youth with opportunities
Through the program, young people can access digital apprenticeships and mentorship opportunities with professionals in the tech industry and thereby addressing the common mismatch in the available skills vis a vis the available opportunities in the labour market.
In addition, Sasakazi plays a significant role in linking youth coming through its program to a vast tech pool with plenty of opportunities. The program works to identify organizations and businesses with digital needs and later provides them with tech talents to offer apt solutions.
“The Sasakazi platform aims to disrupt the industry by offering a professional digital apprenticeship program that combines time-tested soft skills training with a focus on digital work settings,” Sasakazi notes.
So far, Sasakazi has reached over 3,843 tech talents and has recorded an absorption rate of 90% into jobs.
Making Dreams Come True
Bedah Otieno, a software developer in Kenya, is one of the many beneficiaries of the Sasakazi program.
In an interview, Otieno detailed his journey to completing his first major project as a developer. He first came across the program on social media through an advertisement.
While in the program, Otieno got crucial training that he states impacted his career positively. Subsequently, Sasakazi linked him to Semanasi- an eTherapy system which connects therapists to clients virtually where he got an opportunity to put his skills into practice.
“Sasakazi has impacted my career positively as it has enabled me to access projects that are in my career path,” Otieno testifies.
“I managed to overcome the challenges I was working on and now I am confident enough to say that I am a software developer.”
In addition to offering apprenticeships and mentorship opportunities, Sasakazi also helps MSMEs in achieving their digitization efforts.
Launched in May this year, Sasakazi remains a door to dream careers in the tech industry for youths in Kenya.