Stakeholders in the Kenyan Green Economy convened at a national workshop held at the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) to outline strategies that would accelerate employment opportunities for youth within the sector.
- The National Green Jobs and Skills Workshop was attended by Principal Secretaries within key government ministries, youth organizations, private sector enterprises, academic formulators, and enterprise support organizations – was themed #TwendeGreenKe.
- The stakeholders identified that misalignment of the education system with the evolving market hampered young people from acquiring necessary skills that would upscale innovation within the green economy.
- The collaboration between the public and private sector, driven by international support, would facilitate more than 100 million jobs in the green sector – solving youth unemployment which stands at about 66% of the demographic.
“Unemployment is a dire issue facing Kenya’s youth, with the majority lacking access to opportunities and representation. There have been numerous interventions by different players in creating green jobs and skilling for youth, however it is now time to take concrete steps and implement a coordinating mechanism for all these efforts,” said Sellah Bogonko, CEO and co-founder of Jacob’s Ladder Africa.
The need to create valuable incentives for young people in the green economy is driven by the necessity of tackling climate change. By supporting young people’s innovative inclinations within the sector, stakeholders agreed that it will not only improve their standards of living and the economy as a whole, but also rapidly solve environmental challenges within a shorter period.
“Climate change is a reality that is here with us, hence the need to take urgent action. In order to transition to a green, low carbon economy, it is important to ensure the youth have the requisite skills to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. The National Green Jobs and Skills Development Workshop is a significant step in developing a legislative framework to action the creation of green jobs,” said Festus Ng’eno, Principal Secretary, State Department for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry.
The most pertinent issue raised by a number of stakeholders in the workshop was the shortage of talent within the sector. Although there is a steady rise in innovative solutions fostered by young people, a significant chunk remains mired in traditional attitudes towards work – alienating them from upcoming opportunities that the changing world presents.
The ministry of education sensitized on the need for basic and tertiary institutions to adjust their curricula towards imparting the subsequent generation with skills in environmental waste management, climate justice, clean energy solutions, and sustainable development – regardless of the courses they enrol into. She was optimistic that the green economy will present a broad range of opportunities that would allow every passion or course to be utilized, if only efficient empowerment and awareness is made within the education system.
“The Ministry of Education is focused on greening education curricula to help the youth take advantage of upcoming job opportunities in the green economy. There is therefore an urgent need for higher education institutions and technical training institutes to construct, deconstruct and reconstruct the curricula to level up to the dynamic needs of a low carbon development pathway, if our graduates are going to be relevant globally, and also nationally in this era of climate change,” said Principal Secretary for Higher Education, Beatrice Inyangala.
Startups and Small Businesses in the Green Economy
The demand for technical skills should be directly proportional to the supply of jobs in the green economy. Small businesses form an integral part of the Kenyan economy. Moreover, the technological advances across the world have brought startups to the forefront of entrepreneurship, as well as accompanying organizations that are ready to finance them.
The union of digital innovation and the green economy will create a dynamic ecosystem that will require the youth to update themselves on the changes that occur every day. Unlike in the past, the new education system will not guarantee stationary skills – but workplaces and enterprise support organizations will have to provide resources for growth in knowledge and the iteration of skills.
“Kenya is blessed with an abundance of sectors with great potential for green job creation such as renewable energy, transportation (non-motorised and low emissions mobility), sustainable agriculture and more. The Green Jobs for Youth Pact is charged with accelerating the creation and the skills of more green and decent jobs for youth,” said Dr. Rose Mwebaza, UNEP Africa Regional Office Director.
Accessing green finance is a challenge in Kenya for young people because of the uncertainty inherent in the green economy. Despite the commitment by the Kenya Bankers Association since 2015 to adequately fund the sector, entrepreneurs have cited that inability to scale as well as lack of incentives like tax breaks continue to stifle growth. The CEO of the Association of Startups and SMEs Enablers Of Kenya (ASSEK), Mercy Kimalat, says that financing opportunities and networking of innovative ideas remains slow due to the lack of a legal framework for startups.
“The current challenge is the definition of a startup. It is hard for the government to prioritize incentives and subsidies for the sector unless it is rooted in law. For this reason, we are lobbying for the Startup Bill 2024 to enhance this endeavor,” Mercy Kimalat told The Kenyan Wall Street.
Another challenge that was identified was the propensity for startups to collapse within a short period. It was established that Nairobi startups had a higher survival rate than their counterparts in marginalized rural areas. To set things right, the stakeholders in the green economy decoded it would be necessary for the government to create Derisking agencies that would mitigate the risk associated with investing in remote enterprises. This would help to net a wide range of young people from all over the country, who would then employ clean solutions in agriculture.
The nature of jobs within the startup sector stressed on the need for constant revitalization of skills. Jobs in the green economy also need to be protected by labour protection laws, as well as covered by the tax bracket.
“Trends are changing in the job market. Short-term jobs, about 3 years or less, are becoming preferable for young people. As young people intend to spread their passion into other enterprises, there will be need for re-skilling and re-training,” said COTU representative Eric Oduor.
Policy Implementation of the Green Economy.
The United Nations Develoment Program (UNDP) reports that 1 in 8 people in Kenya have knowledge in skills required in the green economy. This is a serious pitfall in the development of the sector which has garnered both global and national support in the recent times.
Kenya is a pioneer in policy enactment that involves climate change and the green economy. The stakeholders agreed that emerging lucrative markets like the Carbon Credits sector are yet to be seized due to lack of awareness among the youth. It was noted that the greatest undoing in the implementation strategy within the green economy is the isolation of stakeholders in the past – each working singularly to achieve goals that could only be attained with cumulative effort.
“Our undoing is implementation. The policies are in place. Kenya was the first country in Africa to put up strategy, policy, and plan. I would want a situation where we are able to look at these good policies and laws and come up with an implementation strategy. I believe the youth are the ones to move this to the next stage,” said Vihiga Governor Wilber Otichilo.
Private enterprises have been encouraged to join associations such as ASSEK and the Aspen Network of Development Enterpreneuers (ANDE), which would help them collectively chart a road map on the next stage of development within the green economy, as well as strengthening their position in the sector.
Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs) like Jacob’s Ladder Africa have been challenged to accelerate more competitions for innovative young people geared towards solutions in the green economy, and partner with existing private enterprises to link skilled talent with opportunities for further learning.
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