• South-South Dialogues executive director Stephen Ndegwa said developing countries should explore broader cooperation among themselves in new business platforms such as digital economy, smart city and 5G.
•E-commerce platforms and new forms of digital paid employment such as cloud working will increase incomes and financial independence.
More than 200 youths who recently finished Form 4 have been trained on digital skills for self-employment in a programme supported by the Chinese embassy.
Kenyan development not-for-profit organisation, South-South Dialogues, conducted the first county two-day training workshop on “Digital Awareness for Self-Sustainability” at the Karundas Catholic Vocational Training Centre in Kiganjo, Nyeri.
The trainings aim to empower out-of-school youth in technical and vocational education and training centres countrywide with practical and wide-ranging digital/information communication technology skills for self-employment.
The training was conducted on May 20 and 21. The workshop was conducted with the assistance of the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in Nairobi as part of its people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
Topics covered during the training included e-commerce, innovation, cybersecurity and digital integrity, and creating an online presence.
South-South Dialogues executive director Stephen Ndegwa said developing countries should explore broader cooperation among themselves in new business platforms such as the digital economy, smart city and 5G.
“Major countries like China are supporting African countries in applying digital technologies in transportation, medical care, finance and other livelihood areas, building 'smart cities' and leveraging digital technologies to strengthen state governance and control Covid-19,” he said.
The programme is targeted at providing more than 5,000 high potential but disadvantaged young people in all 47 counties with digital soft skills training.
“We live in a digital era and this is a huge advantage. Digital literacy and skills are essential and should no longer be ignored. These skills should be constantly developed hand-in-hand with the digital infrastructure. This is the only way that investment in technology will prove to be efficient,” Ndegwa said.
E-commerce platforms and new forms of digital paid employment such as cloud working will increase incomes and financial independence. This is important for the youth but also has advantages for society as a whole.
Edited by A.N