INDUSTRIALISATION SECRETARY ADAN MOHAMMED TRIES HIS HAND ON A SEWING
MACHINE DURING A TOUR OF AN EPZ ON THIKA ROAD IN JANUARY. FILE PHOTO |
NMG
Summary
- About 4,000 youth will be screened for participation after which 2,000 of them will be trained and employed to help address the skills gap that currently hinders growth in the sector.
- The Hub’s new initiative will further cement partnerships between U.S. and East African business under the Act.
- Launched in 2015 with funding from the USAid’s Mission in Kenya, Generation Kenya has so far successfully graduated 4,400 trainees from among disadvantaged youth.
About 2,000 Kenyan
youth are set to be trained and be employed in the textile industry
following the signing of a grant between the US government and a Kenyan
firm.
In the deal signed on Friday
between the USAid East Africa Trade and Investment Hub (the Hub) and
Generation Program Kenya Limited, a local subsidiary of the McKinsey
Social Initiative, the programme seeks to recruit, train and employ
2,000 Kenyan youth in the apparel industry.
In
a press release sent to newsrooms, USAid Kenya and East Africa Acting
Mission Director Tina Dooley-Jones said through the initiative to be
piloted in collaboration with Ministry of Industry, the Kenya
Association of Manufacturers and apparel companies, seven fully equipped
training centres will be put up in the country.
About
4,000 youth will be screened for participation after which 2,000 of
them will be trained and employed to help address the skills gap that
currently hinders growth in the sector.
“In
addition, the goal of the pilot is to create a sustainable and
replicable model for apparel sector skills development throughout East
Africa.
“USAid is pleased to support
this pilot initiative. Not only does this private sector approach
directly link trained at-risk youth to jobs, the leadership from Kenya’s
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives makes the model
sustainable,” Ms Tina Dooley-Jones.
The
official noted that the signing of the grant is also the official
kick-off of the Hub’s “East Africa Cotton, Textile and Apparel Workforce
Development Initiative,” a collaborative effort with the private sector
based on a partnership agreement with the American Apparel and
Footwear Association.
East Africa is establishing itself as a key-sourcing destination for buyers of global apparel, footwear and travel goods.
Recently
renewed to 2025, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a
major incentive which provides up to 35 percent in duty savings for
eligible countries exporting to the U.S.
The Hub’s new initiative will further cement partnerships between U.S. and East African business under the Act.
Launched
in 2015 with funding from the USAID’s Mission in Kenya, Generation
Kenya has so far successfully graduated 4,400 trainees from among
disadvantaged youth, placing them in the fast moving consumer goods
distribution, retail, financial services and hospitality industries.
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