- The level of unemployment rose sharply amongst young people aged 20 to 29 years.
Image: HANDOUT
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of start-up ecosystem in Kenya, with most of them focusing on digitization.
This was partly pushed up by the high unemployment rate that saw many companies either cut on workforce to remain in business or simply close shop.
The latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the rate of unemployment in the country doubled to 10.4 per cent from a pre covid rate of 5.2 per cent.
The level of unemployment rose sharply amongst young people aged 20 to 29 years.
Speakers at the start-up workshop ended Friday in Nairobi which was organised by Garage48 and Pangea Accelerator with support from the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Development Cooperation Fund emphasized for the need for incubations.
The number of star-ups have grown tremendously. They need to be nurtured to realize their potentials. This workshop is part of the initiative to support them,''Garage48 CEO Mari Hanikat said.
Leading startup ecosystem players in Africa have concluded two-day workshop to design solutions for challenges that the startups in the region are facing.
Dubbed Empowering the Startup Community, the workshop aimed at designing solutions for challenges such businesses in the region are facing.
The number of businesses registered in the three months to September last year nearly doubled after the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic saw many Kenyans switch to a survival mode.
Data from the companies’ registry shows that the number of business names registered during the period under review jumped 95 percent to 29,941 compared to a similar period last year.
The workshop hosted at least 25 representatives from incubation hubs, accelerators firms and other entrepreneur support organizations from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia and Tanzania.
Hanikat said the idea of the workshop is to bring together different startup community ecosystem key players , create additional synergy between them and see how each of these organizations could contribute to the lifecycle of the East-African startup.
During the session, participants brainstormed ideas and solutions that will contribute to a stronger, smarter and more connected startup ecosystem.
Pangea Accelerator CEO Jonas Tesfu said he was happy to cooperate with a leading East Africa ecosystem player to focus on economic recovery from the effects of Covid 19.
''It exciting to partner with a key player in the Estonian ecosystem. Estonia is by far a global leader on e-governance and innovation, hence the need for us to learn from their experience,'' Tesfu said.
The workshop hopes to birth fresh, innovative solutions by integrating IT skills to different industries; enabling future trendsetters by facilitating networking among participants.