KEPSA, Absa Bank Kenya Partnership Targets Youths With Online Jobs

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has today announced a partnership with Absa Bank Kenya to provide online job opportunities to young people through their respective youth programs, Ajira Digital and Ready-to-Work.

Absa Bank will use Ajira’s Digital platform to recruit young people for its Ready-to-Work program while leveraging KEPSA’s network to build linkages and alliances that will enable enterprises to outsource work, so improving the impact of their ongoing young people’s placement programs.

Speaking at the announcement ceremony at the Stanley Hotel, KEPSA’s Chief Executive Officer Ms. Carole Kariuki said the collaboration aims to improve the government’s skilling and youth empowerment programs to address the high rate of youth unemployment and the inability to find work.

“This partnership provides an opportunity where youth from our ongoing interventions like the Ajira Digital project can access the much-needed employability skills as well as open up job linkage opportunities. We hope that through our various engagements and activities that we will be conducted in line with this partnership we can unlock thousands of jobs to young people in the creative industry as influencers and content creators,” stated Kariuki.

Absa’s Managing Director Jeremy Awori reiterated the bank’s commitment to supporting Kenyan youth through the partnership with the Ajira Digital Program.

“The partnership with KEPSA through the Ajira Program that we are launching today is in line with our ongoing efforts in this critical area of youth empowerment. We hope to establish digital and technologically enabled job opportunities through this agreement, with the goal of connecting one million competent youth to these opportunities” Awori said.

Absa’s Ready-To-Work seeks to equip youths with work skills, people skills, money skills and entrepreneurial skills. Young people can select their own learning pathway depending on individual needs and complete the learning online using computer, tablet or mobile platforms. Since its inception in 2015, the program has impacted over 200,000 youth in the country to date and with a target of reaching one million by 2023.

According to 2019 census, 5,341,182 or 38.9 percent of the 13,777,600 young Kenyans are jobless. The growth of the gig economy combined with digital platforms that link job seekers with recruiters offers a lifeline for the jobless youth.