Garissa will build an innovation and youth empowerment centre for skills development, Governor Ali Korane has said.
Korane said the vocational training centre will have a lecture hall plus laboratories and other modern infrastructure.
Addressing youth in Garissa on Wednesday, Korane said the county has already allocated Sh100 million for the exercise.
"I have shared this idea with experts in the USA who will be coming by June to help us fully operationalize the centre," Korane said.
Korane said unemployment and poor access to education remain major challenges to local youth.
Recent statistics indicate 68 per cent of children of primary school going age are out of school and 90 per cent out of secondary school.
Korane said his administration is trying hard to reverse the situation.
He said the county government will set up an innovation hub that will help youth in nurturing their talents. Centres will be built to house school-going children. This, he said, is aimed at increasing enrollment of children in schools.
“The county has set up a revolving fund which we think will help youth in terms of entrepreneurship so that they uplift their living standards,” he said.
Korane said his administration is working towards a sustainable solution to unemployment.
The governor urged youths to be innovative and come up with ideas that are workable to enable them to get loans from the revolving fund.
The governor said the county is in discussion with a foreign country who will identify gaps in the local market.
“What we want to do is to sign an MOU with them which will identify the gaps in the labour market," he said.
He said ICT centers have been constructed in every ward and the next financial year the centers will be fully equipped and operational.
