The youth in Kenya represent 30% of the population and they face serious challenges of unemployment and underemployment. The new constitution has opened new opportunities that the youth can take advantage of.
Once the counties are implemented there are massive opportunities to be taken advantage of. The youth need to see the bigger picture and think of how they can take advantage of the opportunities presented at the county level.
Kenya's small and medium businesses are the base of the country's entrepreneurial growth. Since 2009, it has been made easier to run a small and medium business in the country, with the opportunity to apply for licences online or through mobile payments. The time it takes to start a business has also been reduced. However the government still needs to do more in providing access to start up and expansion of capital for youth oriented businesses, provide access to business education and financial literacy programs.
The counties bring with them opportunities that the youth can explore and improve their standards of living, through entrepreneurship. In addition to the implementation of counties, the Kenya Vision 2030 also recognizes the role of small and medium sized enterprises in development. It emphasizes on the development of industrial parks in five major towns: Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, Nairobi, Nakuru which if implemented can be a great boost to the youth in terms of entrepreneurship.
The ball lies on the court of the youth to see the opportunity that counties and vision 2030 will provide, see their businesses as growth avenues and not just for daily sustenance in order to overcome the statistic of 70% of Kenyan SMEs not surviving their first year of business.
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