World Youth Skills Day|3 Ways To Secure Kenya's Digital Future
July 15 was declared the World Youth Skills Day by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
Until the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenya was one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, with an annual average growth of 5.9% between 2010 and 2018. At a GDP of $95 billion, Kenya recently reached a lower-middle-income status and has successfully established a diverse and dynamic economy, stated by an economic and growth trade report from USAID.
The Silicon Savannah, Kenya, has seen its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector grow an average of 10.8% annually since 2016, becoming a significant source of economic development and job creation almost every sector of the economy.
As the Kenyan digital economy propels economic growth, a recent World Bank economic update says more needs to be implemented to prepare citizens and businesses for the economy, society and jobs of the future. This study expects 50-55% of jobs in Kenya to rely on digital skills by 2030, up from 25-30% in 2019. The country's digital economy is projected to account for 25 per cent of the global GDP by 2026, up from 15.5 per cent in 2016.
However, Kenya continues to face significant challenges to sustainable and inclusive economic growth, which have been accelerated by COVID-19’s economic disruptions, alongside long-running challenges, economic inequality and a digital skills gap.
Rising youth unemployment is one of the most significant problems facing economies and societies, for developed and developing countries. This World Youth Day 2022, we held a conversation with our team members to recognize the strategic importance of equipping young professionals with skills for employment, decent work and to highlight the crucial role of skilled youth in addressing current and future global challenges.
Securing Kenya's Digital Future
How have your tech skills created opportunities in your career?
"I knew I was on the right career path the first time I created a website as a freelancer. A business owner took a chance on me after a conversation about my tech training along the corridors where I worked. My employer took a keen interest in my web development skills, an area that I had been learning aside from my formal training in Business Information Technology. The exposure to tech in my background led to self-learning in this area."
- William Mbanya, Systems Information Technology.
What skills are needed for a resilient youth?
"In an ever rapidly transforming world, young professionals need to develop problem-solving skills, which are valuable for business operations. With the ability to assess a challenge, we will be able to fuel creativity & innovation for the growing opportunities. In the growing data analytics field, continuous self-improvement will build the confidence needed to deliver the best results."
-Diana Okiya, Data Analyst.
Where do you foresee the industry transformation, are you preparing for that?
"In the media industry, the transformation is going digital. The development of digital content formats like Podcasts, Social Media, Blogs, and Mobile Apps are transforming journalism practice. Traditional methods in mass communication are at risk of being phased out. Organizations and people need to prepare for digital transformation and diversity "
-Roseline Kinoti, Production Manager.
Micah, a system information technologist, adds that industries will be embracing advancements in artificial intelligence, automation and data science. To safeguard data and promote data integrity, cyber security is a growing need now, and in the future.
The socio-economic challenges have highlighted the importance of the digital economy to development and increased the urgency of creating more and better jobs for Kenyan youth. While the economy changes, the skills needed to drive change are evolving. It is of utmost importance that we nurture and influence the entire ecosystem to build the required skills to take advantage of the digital economy. Jobs that need new skills are security, data analysis and processing and cloud computing.
Kenya is eager to position itself as a hub for information and communication technologies, eCommerce and digital services, true to the Silicon Savannah. Building strong digital foundations will be critical to the country’s long-term success in harnessing the potential of the digital economy as a driver of its economic growth, job creation and service delivery.