Youthful traders in Kenya will benefit from a training-cum-sponsorship programme facilitated by New York-listed lender, Citibank and international non-profit firm, Technoserve.
Under the Pan-African Youth Entrepreneur Development (PAYED 4) programme, 1,000 young micro-retailers from Kenya, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania will be equipped with business management and digital skills as well as linked to finance and markets.
Citibank Kenya chief executive Martin Mugambi said skills gained to make the youth more employable while enabling them to professionally run their businesses.
“During the next year, the programme will play a critical role in helping entrepreneurs recover from the impact of Covid-19 on their businesses. Youth entrepreneurs will learn digital skills that enable them to take advantage of digital and financial resources to sustain their businesses and communities,” he said.
The programme follows the conclusion of a survey that revealed Covid-19 pandemic threatened the survival of medium, small and micro-enterprises.
“Containment measures put in place by governments including travel restrictions, states of emergency and the dusk to dawn curfew led to supply chain disruptions directly affecting the micro-retailers while reduced working hours and lower consumer demand resulted in lower incomes, hurting livelihoods,” said the survey.
The survey found that micro-businesses played a crucial supplying grocery and food to consumers earning less than Sh200 a day while creating employment for the youth.
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