Kirinyaga youth have turned to technology in an effort to cushion against unemployment, following the launch of a digital marketplace designed to connect job seekers, service providers, traders, buyers, and players in the transport sector.
The platform, dubbed KiliMarket, android app and website, was launched by the Kirinyaga Young Professionals Forum as part of efforts to harness technology and create new economic opportunities for young people in the County.
Speaking during the launch of the platform, Kirinyaga Young Professionals Forum Chairman Andrew Murigu said digitization was the way to go, noting that many young people are already using social media platforms to market their businesses and reach a wider customer base.
He said KiliMarket would also benefit youthful Boda boda riders who are increasingly embracing digital platforms to access customers and increase their incomes.
“By registering on the platform, they can get direct job linkages from people seeking their services. The same applies to service providers, ranging from plumbers, electricians, agronomists, and veterinarians,” Murigu said.
He encouraged service providers to register on the platform so that potential customers can easily find and engage them.
“You can simply go to the KiliMarket platform, register your services, and utilise the opportunity. Someone seeking your services can then go to the platform and access them directly,” he said.
The Young Professionals Secretary-General, Nicholas Bundi, said the platform would bring together different categories of users, including job seekers, service providers, traders, and players in the transport sector.
“KiriMarket is bringing service providers, job seekers, traders and the transport sector onto one platform. Our goal is to make it easier for people to find services and, at the same time, create opportunities for young people to earn an income,” Bundi said.
Kirinyaga County Executive Committee (CEC) Member for Trade, Calbert Njeru, who graced the occasion, said the county government is preparing to roll out a fund allocated in the county budget to support innovative ideas and initiatives.
He said the Fund would help young innovators and entrepreneurs who require start-up capital or other resources to develop their ideas.
“Her Excellency the Governor will be leading us on that particular front to ensure that once these people pitch their ideas or exhibit what they are able to do, they can be boosted in a way that meets their needs, whether it is start-up capital or resources to expand what they are doing,” Njeru said.
He said the County had a generation of young people with creative and innovative ideas capable of developing solutions to some of the challenges facing society.
“There are creative ideas and innovative ideas, and I can tell you we have a big solution for this generation. This is a generation that has a purpose not to give up, but to give their best and ensure that they do not sit down in the streets,” he said,adding, “They are now in the digital streets, exploring ideas and creating platforms so that we can make something out of their lives.”
Mwea Member of Parliament (MP), Mary Maingi, said there was a mismatch between the skills demanded by the labour market and those being produced through the education system.
She called for reforms to streamline education and equip young people with skills that respond to changing labour-market needs.
Maingi also urged young people to support leaders who embrace innovation, digital literacy and progressive ideas.
“Young people, let us elect people with progressive minds, or with a progressive mindset, not people who are going to take us back to where we came from or to the Stone Age,” she said.
She called for greater emphasis on innovation, digital literacy, and open-minded leadership, saying this would help create more opportunities for young professionals.
The launch of KiliMarket comes amid growing calls for innovative approaches to tackling youth unemployment, with stakeholders increasingly looking towards technology, entrepreneurship, and value addition as alternative pathways to employment.
By Mutai Kipng’etich
