10,000 Young Entrepreneurs to Benefit From KCB’s 2jiajiri Program

At least 10,000 youths and practicing entrepreneurs have a chance to realize their entrepreneurship ambitions this year under the KCB Foundation job creation programme 2jiajiri.

KCB Foundation –the KCB Group social investments arm will from Monday 7^th January 2019 kick off the recruitment of beneficiaries into the programme across the country.

The recruitment targets 3,000 out-of-school youth and 7,000 individuals operating Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The 3,000 will be recruited and trained at various technical training institutions in Nairobi, Embu, Murang’a, Nakuru, Kilifi, Marsabit, Kajiado, Machakos, Siaya, Kiambu, Busia and Kakamega counties. The other 7,000 will be tapped through the KCB Bank Kenya branches across the country targeting MSMEs and apprentices.

This comes after last month’s announcement by KCB Group of a 50-billion-shilling commitment towards boosting entrepreneurship in Kenya over the next five years. Through the KCB Foundation, the lender will use the funds to support entrepreneurs under its 2jiajiri programme.

The funding will be utilized in a technical capacity, entrepreneurial skills development and financial management skills support as well as, startup, working capital and asset financing for the 10,000 beneficiaries recruited in agribusiness, automotive engineering, beauty and personal care, building and construction, and domestic services.

Application forms are available at selected KCB branches in the listed counties and participating training institutions or can be downloaded from www.kcbbankgroup.com

Interviews will be conducted across the country from January 7-15, 2019 after which the successful applicants will commence studies running between three to six months at the respective institutions from January 21, 2019.

KCB launched 2jiajiri in 2016, a programme that seeks to formalize the informal sector and skill for self-employment targeting the youth and small businesses. It focuses on growing youth micro-businesses in the informal sector and brings them to a place where they can employ at least 5 other young people with an aim of creating 250,000 jobs in five years.

The programme aims to support young entrepreneurs to gain access to finance, enabling them to become self-employed and create employment for other young people countrywide.

In 2018, the KCB disbursed a total of 18.3 billion shillings in funding local SMEs, Additionally, KCB has advanced a total of 4.4 billion shillings to 17,146 Micro SMEs to finance their growth, while another 10,519 SME customers have accessed 13.9 billion shillings in loans.

Since its launch, the programme has skilled over 23,000 youth beneficiaries on technical skills and financial literacy across the country.