Fresh graduates get first-job tips from top business schools

From left: Mr Patrick Obath, a director at Kepsa, AMI chief executive Rebecca Harrison and Wambura Kimunyu, the general manager of Cheki, at a past breakfast meeting in Nairobi. AMI is targeting a million managers in the next eight years. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU 

By STELLAR MURUMBA, smurumba@ke.nationmedia.com

Thousands of fresh graduates and job-seekers in Kenya are set to benefit from an online programme aimed at equipping them with practical skills towards their first jobs while exposing them to employers.

The Launchpad, Success@Work in 21st Century Africa, launched this week by the African Management Initiative (AMI) will address Africa’s skills gap through practical and accessible learning.

will access world-class courses from leading business schools.

Some of the B-schools are Strathmore Business School, Lagos Business School, and the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science.

“Kenyan graduates are coming out of university with great academic credentials, but often struggle to find good jobs. At the same time, employers tell us that young people do not have the skills they are looking for. Launchpad aims to close that gap by equipping graduates with the skills they need to excel at work,” says Rebecca Harrison, the chief executive of AMI.

The courses will include setting personal and professional goals, personal productivity, time management and influencing others through networking and negotiating, Ms Harrison says.

The learning bundle, while leveraging technology to empower entrepreneurs and managers, comprises video lessons (supported by local case studies), practical exercises, interactive quizzes and an innovative peer support system. This, she says, will be through practical, accessible and locally relevant learning tools, via web, mobile and in-person.

The two-month Launchpad programme covers key topics on work-readiness skills, she says.

“We will host a networking session for the successful students with top employers from the region, an essential part of the programme that is designed to prepare the students for the employment market.”

The programme is using technology to reach as many people possible at a price “everyone can afford,” she said.

A regular programme costs Sh1,500 but early birds pay Sh1,000.

AMI has also been selected as an education provider for the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), a regional leadership centre launched by the US President, Barack Obama.

Both back young African leaders as they spur growth in business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, and public management.

Over 10,000 people across 25 African countries have, so far, been reached by the programme online, and another 1,000 in five countries through in-person workshops.

AMI, whose headquarters are in Nairobi, aims at training thousands of professionals and entrepreneurs both online and through customised learning.“We shall offer this training in support of other companies and organisations such as Kenya Airports Parking Ltd (KAPS), Naked Pizza and the Foundation,” the CEO said

AMI will be targeting graduates from top universities in Kenya, including Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Mount Kenya University (MKU), United States International University (USIU) and KCA University (KCAU).

“Our set target by 2023 is to have trained over one million African managers,” she says.

She says AMI is using a technology that can be accessed on a computer or a mobile device. Learners can freely help each other to apply what they learn on the job, and can showcase their achievements to thousands of other managers from across the continent.

Users will also enjoy customised programmes for companies that will empower them and drive productivity.

“This unique learning platform can be accessed on a computer or mobile phone anytime, anywhere for free or at a very low-cost, making it the most accessible business education tool ever offered in Africa. Our courses are developed specifically for African managers and entrepreneurs.”
She added: “Content is practical and proudly African, featuring African lecturers, and drawing on African case studies and example to ensure local relevance.”

AMI is recognised amongst the world’s most innovative learning institutions in the Wharton-QS Stars 2014 Reimagine Education for institutions employing creative approaches in developing online courses with top business schools in Africa.

Kenya employers, through the umbrella Federation of Kenya Employers, have on a number of occasions raised reservations about the quality of fresh graduates, blaming limited practicals.

Universities that have recently expanded to accommodate the increasing number of students qualifying for degree programmes are grappling with a number of challenges, including limited government funding and a shortage of experienced lecturers who are in high demand