Time flies with great content! Renew in to keep enjoying all our premium content.
Prime
61pc of Kenyan youth consider emigration for job opportunities
Despite the government introducing several programmes aimed at tackling youth unemployment, only 22 percent of young people approved of the government's efforts.
Slightly more than six in 10 Kenyan young people are considering leaving the country in search of better job opportunities, a new survey report showed.
The survey, conducted by the Pan-African research group Afrobarometer in collaboration with the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, found that 61 percent of Kenyan youth, who have contemplated emigration cite finding better job opportunities as their primary reason.
Of the 43 percent of young people aged 18 to 35 who have considered leaving the country, 25 percent said they want to escape financial hardship and poverty. Only 3 percent said they would leave to pursue an education.
"Against a backdrop of dissatisfaction with economic conditions, more than four in 10 young Kenyans (43 percent) said they have given emigration at least 'a little bit' of thought." One in four (25 percent) said they have considered it 'a lot'," the report read.
"Compared to the 2016 survey, the proportion of young people who have considered emigrating has increased marginally (from 40 percent to 43 percent), but this includes a nine-point increase in the "a lot" category.”
Despite being the most educated generation in the country's history, with 80 percent holding at least secondary or post-secondary qualifications, many are struggling to secure decent employment.
The survey showed that 43 percent of young Kenyans are unemployed and actively seeking work.
This worrying trend is attributed to a number of factors, including inadequate training for available jobs (22 percent), a mismatch between education and job requirements (20 percent), lack of experience (19 percent), and insufficient entrepreneurial skills or motivation (16 percent).
Despite the government introducing several programmes aimed at tackling youth unemployment, such as the Ajira Digital initiative, Kazi Mtaani, and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, only 22 percent of young people approved of the government's efforts.
Asked how government spending should be prioritised, 47 percent said that job creation should be the top priority, followed by education (21 percent) and job training (13 percent).
In contrast, only 23 percent would choose to work for the government, and just 10 percent favour jobs in the private sector, reflecting a decline in confidence in traditional employment pathways.
