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NAIROBI, July 10
(Xinhua / GNA) – A start-up contest supported by the World Bank
Unemployment was launched Wednesday in Kenya, officials said.
Carlos Felipe
Jaramillo, World Bank country director for Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda,
based in Nairobi, told reporters in Nairobi that his organization had
aside 1.38 billion shillings (13.5 million US dollars) for the MbelenaBiz
Business plan competition that would award grants to 750 recipients.
"MbelenaBiz does
does not directly target unemployed youth, it targets promising young entrepreneurs
who have a business idea or an existing business to support them with great
business subsidies, the ultimate goal being to create jobs for others
youth, "said Jaramillo.
He observed that the
The competition, which is taking place across the country, is making special efforts to target women.
entrepreneurs who are often afraid to participate in business contests.
Jaramillo added that
the competition would award grants ranging from $ 8,755 to $ 35,000
the laureates, noting that Kenya had made progress in youth employment
in the last ten years.
According to the world
Bank manager, the number of formal jobs created was not enough to match the
increase in the population of working age.
"Around 800,000
young people enter the job market every year, but only about 100,000 formal jobs are
created, "he noted.
"As a result, a
many young people work a few hours a week or work in
productivity jobs. None of these means allows them to earn a good living or contribute
significantly to the economy, "Jaramillo noted.
Jaramillo said that
the business competition has drawn on similar business plan competitions, such as the
The YouWin competition that took place in Nigeria.
GNA
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