The British Council’s Innovation for African
Universities programme is helping to support graduate entrepreneurs in Kenya,
in partnership with Northumbria University's Newcastle Business School.
There is no shortage of
entrepreneurial spirit among young people in Kenya. However, many new
enterprises fail in the first three years as young people often don’t have the
skills needed for sustaining a successful business beyond the start-up phase.
The British Council’s Innovation
for African Universities (IAU) programme is funding the Youth Entrepreneurship
Accelerator Programme in Kenya, a partnership between The Technical University
of Kenya, Kenyatta University, Northumbria University in the UK and the Entrepreneurship Educators
Foundation for East Africa, to support young Kenyan entrepreneurs sustain their
businesses and help them grow.
The Technical University of Kenya
runs programmes in entrepreneurship as a mainstay of its curriculum. Dr Pamela Mreji, Senior Lecturer, Technical
University of Kenya, comments: “Many Kenyans are becoming entrepreneurs as
a source of income to sustain their family, because of the need to have
something at the end of the month. There is no guarantee it will become a
sustainable business as it is often not a well-evolved opportunity.”
Kenyatta University provides links
to the world of work and other young entrepreneurs through its Innovation
Centre. Frederick Ndede, Senior
Lecturer, Kenyatta University, adds: “The major issue is the identification
of the market, the second issue is lack of financial support, and the third
issue is linking those young people with ideas to established, successful
business owners who can give them guidance in what I call the joint venture
ship.”
Academics from Northumbria
University are sharing their knowledge of survival and growth for young
businesses by providing input into the creation of an online portal for Kenyan
entrepreneurs, which is particularly important for ensuring access to support
for people in rural areas. This portal will be a hub of practical advice, case
studies and access to mentors to help young people’s businesses survive and
thrive, rooted in the experiences of successful Kenyan businesses. “We were
very conscious not to take examples from the UK and other parts of the world
and transplant them directly into Kenya,” adds Alison Pearce, Associate Professor, Northumbria University.
The portal is being built by the
Entrepreneurship Educators Foundation, Eastern Africa. Duncan Ochieng from the Entrepreneurship Educators Foundation,
comments: “When entrepreneurs come in at incubation, they are an individual or
a partnership of two people. Now, when they scale up their business they will
have created job opportunities for twenty or thirty people. That success can be
replicated in different environments, and that means a lot of impact in
entrepreneurial development, both locally and globally.”
Kira Analytics is a Kenyan
business being supported by the IAU’s Youth Entrepreneurship Accelerator
Programme. Anthony Migwi, business owner
at Kira Analytics, said: “Having the support of the British Council
dramatically increases our chances of moving from year one to year three to
year five.”
The project is part of The British Council’s Innovation for African Universities(IAU) programme, which includes partner universities and enterprise and
innovation organisations in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and the UK. The
programme comprises 24 project partnerships and aims to grow universities’
capabilities for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, developing the skills graduates
require to build sustainable industries, companies and services.
Monica Blagescu, spokesperson at The
British Council, commented: “Through
stronger peer to peer connections and sharing best practices and knowledge
between higher education institutions, the programme aims to enhance students’
employability and support economic development across Kenya and Sub-Saharan
Africa now and into the future.”
