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Date Posted: June 14, 2016
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AfricaWorking to benefit 250,000 youth with employability skills by 2020

Image Credit: Africa Working

Image Credit: Africa Working

Many corporations are realizing the importance of investing in the youth. Initiatives are coming up with this huge demographic in mind. The other paradigm shift in the corporate circles involves cooperation.

200,000 youth and 50,000 entrepreneurs are set to be supported by AfricaWorking, a new initiative announced today by a group of companies, including Barclays Africa,Emerging World, FranklinCovey, Knod, Microsoft, Safal Group and Syngenta.

The new Association seeks to channel the collective power and voice of the private sector to make an impact on employability and entrepreneurship in Africa. Starting in Kenya and South Africa, AfricaWorking aims to work across the continent by 2020.

There is a huge gap between skilled talent and unemployed youth. As it is there are many well paying jobs that go unfilled due to lack of the right talent. At the same time, the youth form the largest number in terms of unemployment.

Lutz Ziob, Dean of the Microsoft 4Afrika Academy said at the launch, “Most large corporations are looking at youth skills development in one form or another, because it’s crucial to their business. “The idea behind AfricaWorking is to bring these corporations together, align our efforts, share our learnings and build human capital on a pan-Africa scale,” He added.

The initial platforms will leverage YouthWorks – a Microsoft entrepreneurship platform linking youth to career guidance, internships and entry-level job opportunities, and an employability platform powered by Knod.

Graham Doxey, CEO and Founder of Knod said that there is currently a significant mismatch between the skills youth have and the skills employers are looking for. “Our goal is to connect learners and employers in a unique 21st Century experience based learning model, which develops skilled youth and an energized workforce of competent employees,” he said.

AfricaWorking members will use this platform to create their talent pipeline and shape the skilled employees when and where they need them, through real world projects that form the basis of this innovative learning model.

Charles Reed, General Manager for Community Investment for Barclays Africa, added that by 2045, Africa’s labour market is projected to be the biggest in the world. “There is a great opportunity for us to engage the youth, help them develop relevant skills and find meaningful employment opportunities. Key to this is for us to collaborate and leverage technology where it makes sense to do so”, he said.

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Date Posted: April 29, 2016
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Your favourite restaurant menu now available on Yululate

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Photo Credits: Yululate

Good news for foodies. Kenya’s premier business review website, Yululate, has partnered with restaurants in Nairobi to make their menus available online. The website now has menus from restaurants, hotels, cafes, fast food joints, bars and pubs alongside their profiles.

The website’s vision is to connect businesses and consumers as well as give consumers a chance to find, rate and review local businesses and services.

Yululate is the first business review website in Kenya to have online menus.  “We aren’t just helping you with the decision on where and what to eat before going out, we are also making it easier for you when ordering in”, Imran Khan, founder and Director of Yululate says.

This feature was announced during a Food Tasting Event on 28th April at Slims Restaurant where the restaurant also launched a new menu.

Yululate has registered over 2,000 businesses in the food and travel industry, health and medical services, financial services, real estate, lifestyle and autos industry on the website alongside their photos, contact details, location and reviews. Consumers can now search for businesses, products and services by location and preference and are able to get all the information required to make informed decisions.

The platform allows for consumers to rant or vent at bad service and products. “We want to empower the consumer by giving them a voice to demand better services and products through reviews,” says Imran Khan.

Yululate also gives SME’s a chance to break down the digital divide and catch up with big businesses dominating digital platforms. 75% of Kenyan population has access to the internet and over half of them search for great services and products on search engines. By optimizing every business’s page on the website, Yululate offers SME’s the affordable opportunity to be found and to rank on search engines when consumers are searching for their services and products. Yululate attaches key words to every business’s page in order to increase the chance of being found online without necessarily having a website.

Date Posted: March 29, 2016
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Gertrude’s employees now to use M-Tiba “Gerties wallet”

Bob Collymore (Safaricom CEO), Millicent Olulo (Country Director, Pharm Kenya)

Bob Collymore (Safaricom CEO), Millicent Olulo (Country Director, Pharm Kenya)

Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital (Gertrude’s) has partnered with CarePay and Safaricom to provide their employees with a mobile outpatient fund management solution. This makes Gertrude’s one of the first large employers in Kenya to move its employee outpatient scheme onto a mobile health wallet. And this is giving the hospital and its staff benefits in efficiency and cost control.

The scheme will be run over the M-Tiba platform, which CarePay has developed in partnership with Safaricom and PharmAccess Foundation.

The scheme has been branded “Gerties wallet” and it means that all staff now receive an M-Tiba wallet on their mobile phone, allowing them to pay for their outpatient care, with funds pre-loaded by their employer.

Gertrude’s employees and their dependants are registered in the M-Tiba system and are able to access the credited amounts only on health-related expenses at one of the Gertrude’s outlets.  Employees can view their wallet balance and keep financial records of their medical claims. They receive regular SMS notifications on their credit levels.

Gertrude’s has full control of the spending on outpatient health benefits for their staff. And through their online portal they get real-time visibility of the status of individual and group funding, as well as staff utilization of different healthcare facilities.

The M-Tiba mobile health platform recently launched in Kenya and has already contracted over 2,000 healthcare facilities across Kenya. As well as the management of formal outpatient schemes for corporates and insurers, donors are also using M-Tiba to disburse funds to needy and at-risk Kenyans. This year, Safaricom will further roll out its M-Tiba mobile health wallet to all its customers.

Steve Chege, Corporate Affairs Director, Safaricom, said that M-Tiba platform offers a scalable solution for healthcare stakeholders to innovate around services and payments – based on M-PESA. “We’ve seen M-PESA achieve significant gains in financial inclusion for Kenyans and we think M-Tiba will achieve the same in terms of healthcare inclusion”, he added.

Gordon Otieno, CEO at Gertrude’s said, “we are excited that we can continue to offer outpatient care to our current and future employees.” “We are able to demonstrate to our Board that the costs of our outpatient scheme are sustainable and we have a robust system that promotes full transparency and accountability”, he concluded.

 

Date Posted: March 29, 2016
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2016 Kenya Photography Awards entries open till April 30th

KPA Call for entries Poster (2)
Photographers Association of Kenya (PAK) and PAWA 254 launched the 2016 Kenya Photography Awards on Thursday, March 24, 2016.
Now in its third year, the awards will see photographers submit their photos on the Kenya Photography Awards website between March 24th, 2016 to April 30th, 2016 under 8 different categories.
The awards seek to recognize skill, talent and hard work among professionals and rising photographers in the country. Categories are: News, Sports, Nature, Daily Life, Creative, Portraiture, Most Promising Young Photographer and People’s Choice.  
“The awards will go a long way to ensure that we not only appreciate photography as an art but also support and motivate young and upcoming photographers to pursue excellence in this trade,” noted Stephen Nderitu, Chairperson, Photographer’s Association of Kenya.
Gary Knight, the awards chief judge said that last year, they got some really impressive shots.  “We will be looking for much more. We encourage all photographers – young and old to participate in this contest and let us see more and more amazing photos this year”, he added.
Below are the timelines for this year’s awards:
Submissions: March 24th, 2016 – April 30th, 2016
Judging: May 2016
Announcement of Nominees: May 30th, 2016
Winner’s announcement: June 2016
Date Posted: March 18, 2016
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Anzisha Prize 2016 applications and nominations now open

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Do you know of a young innovator between 15-22? After five years of success, the Anzisha Prize is investing further to find, celebrate and expand the award to the very youngest entrepreneurs in Africa. The 6th Anzisha Prize application phase is now open, and the search is on to find 12 of Africa’s youngest, most innovative social and business entrepreneurs under the age of 22.

The Anzisha Prize is one of the most accessible and inclusive Pan-African opportunities for youth. The Prize aims to stimulate, celebrate, nurture and scale young African entrepreneurs and catalyze the ecosystem that supports them. It recognizes young innovators, aged 15 – 22, who have developed and implemented solutions to challenges facing their communities and created dynamic businesses. The program celebrates young leaders who are blazing a trail for others to follow, showing us all that if you are good enough, you’re old enough!

The prize is co-hosted by African Leadership Academy (ALA) and The MasterCard Foundation. They are excited to announce a significant increase in the support available to selected entrepreneurs over the next five years. Each of the 12 finalists will now receive a $7,500 USD fellowship package with the ALA’s Youth Entrepreneur Support Unit (YES-U) which includes the Anzisha Week boot camp, mentorship and consulting services, travel opportunities to network and business equipment.

In addition, a new $25,000 USD prize category has been created to recognize Anzisha Fellows who have created further social and economic value through their ventures by effectively leveraging the opportunities provided by the fellowship with ALA.

This brings the total prize pool to $100,000 USD annually, with the Grand Prize Winner taking home $25,000 USD, 1st Runner-up receiving $15,000 USD and 2nd Runner-up receiving $12,500 USD. The remaining nine finalists will receive $2,500 USD each.

The prize is open to any African national under the age of 22 with an active project, social venture or for-profit business based on the continent.

Anzisha Prize organizers encourage nominations from teachers, parents and community members to identify talented young people. Application forms and information are available in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic, and the Anzisha Prize Tour team will visit key hubs across the continent and engage local media in every region. Both paper and electronic applications are accepted. Applications will close on 15 April 2016.

Date Posted: March 15, 2016
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Aga Khan Academy Mombasa Nurturing young scientists

Imaan Vaiani presenting her project during the exhibitions. Photo: Aga Khan Academy Mombasa.

Imaan Vaiani presenting her project during the exhibitions. Photos: Aga Khan Academy Mombasa.

Aga Khan Academy Mombasa is driving innovation at a key stage in students’ learning, with its own Personal Projects Exhibition. This exhibition has seen 16-year-olds design classroom holograms and home-made mosquito repellents this year.

The school, held its first Personal Project Exhibition for students in 2011, since then, the exhibition has been encouraging students to apply classroom knowledge in addressing social problems. The young innovators get a period of seven to eight months – starting in June – to come up with an idea, conduct research and develop it into an outcome or a product with the guidance of a supervisor.

During this year’s Personal Project Exhibition by the Academy, Alimohammed Jaffer , 16, designed a scientific hologram to aid in presentations, and is currently in the process of coming up with a prototype.

The hologram is designed to aid in education by creating three-dimensional images, compared to a projector that creates two-dimensional images. Alimohammed hopes that the virtual images the hologram will create will help students understand concepts better through visualization. “I wanted to come up with something that will help students better understand subjects that have a practical aspect to them where they do not have the resources of a fully furnished lab,” he said.

He sought the help of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association, which also produces holograms and it agreed to help him create the prototype, which cost £1,500 (Sh210,000).

Another student, Imaan Vaiani designed an eco-friendly and affordable mosquito repellent. The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) states that six per cent of childhood deaths in Africa are due to malaria. The highest numbers are registered in poor communities that cannot afford preventive measures against mosquito bites like buying treated mosquito nets and repellants.

She used affordable products like petroleum jelly and coconut oil to form bases for five different types of repellents. She then used neem oil, citronella, lemon grass, eucalyptus and rose ceranium to make the repellents. She has applied for certification from the Kenya Bureau of Standards, and plans on selling 50grams of her repellants for Sh55 compared to other repellants sold at Sh80 and higher.

The exhibition is a culminating experience in the Academy’s International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme where students are encouraged to provide solutions to social and economic problems.

“These projects are anchored on specific global contexts such as scientific and technical innovation, globalization and sustainability, identities and relationships among others, and they provide opportunities for creative and truly personal demonstrations of learning for the students,” said David Ochieng’ Vice Principal of the Middle Years Programme.

Science and innovation have been proven to play a key role in Africa’s development agenda, yet these areas continue to suffer from acute skills gaps in Kenya. The 2015 Global Innovation Index ranking Kenya at position 92 out of 141 countries.

Challenges in science education in Kenya have contributed to this skills shortage across many fields including engineering, medicine, food sciences and agricultural sciences.

Against the backdrop of these shortages, the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa is creating an enabling environment to nurture sciences among its students. They are doing this through participation in the annual Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad. The Olympiad is one of the largest science competitions that attract the participation of primary and secondary schools. Students get various awards, including monetary awards and recognition for their work.

In 2015, Aga Khan Academy Mombasa won the top school title at the Olympiad, with four of its students receiving awards in the environment, agriculture, engineering, and environmental design categories.

The Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad and the Personal Project Exhibition serve as great platforms to give students the opportunity to interact with other innovators and attain experiences that contribute to student learning, retention and overall school success.

Date Posted: March 14, 2016
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Meet the new kid on the block #QwetuRadio.

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A new addition to Nairobi’s radio entertainment portfolio has been unveiled today. It is a Swahili radio station. The lineup of presenters is a thing of familiarity with people used to tuning in to radio frequencies in Nairobi.

  1. Vincent Ateya- He recently left Milele FM and will be hosting the Qwetu Asubuhi, a morning gospel show, that runs from 4am-6am.
  2. Mogaka- Popularly known for his theatrics on Milele FM, will also be a voice on Qwetu. He is a co-presenter with Vincent Ateya on Qwetu Asubuhi from 6am-10am.
  3. Donah Kaya will be hosting Qwetu Kazini, from 10am-1pm. The mid-morning show is meant to be engaging and entertaining.
  4. Zulekha will co-host this show with Dorah. They like the modern-day mwananchi exemplify the conflicts in our culture.
  5. Nyosh Gathu is a brother to Jimmy Gathu. He will be hosting  Qwetu Jioni from 3pm-7pm. This show is envisaged to give its audience non-stop fuel to make it through the final part of their day. Nyosh is the sultry-voiced, well educated individual who is informed about emerging trends, and is accommodating enough to embrace the new way of life.
  6. Awinja, Jacky Vike, is the co-host of this show. Awinja is the house-manager who is wishful – as is expressed in her story telling style.

There are definitely other shows on the lineup. Qwetu will be airing on frequencies 95.3 FM in Nairobi, 99.1 FM in Kisumu and 92.0 FM in Mombasa. Something they promise you is Rhumba music. So ‘Karibu Nyumbani’- swahili for welcome home.