Strengthening Kenyan Intermediaries and Innovation Ecosystem (SKIIVE)
Kenya is among the leading economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and the most industrially developed country in East Africa. Its economic growth can partly be attributed to digital transformation. Yet, unemployment remains a significant issue, especially among the youth and young adults, many of whom are in informal or self-employment. The digital economy is an opportunity to create new enterprises and transform existing ones to be more innovative and effective. Upskilling and learning new digital skills will be needed.
In this context, GIZ has contracted GFA to implement the Strengthening Kenyan Intermediaries and Innovation Ecosystem (SKIIVE) project as part of the Digital Transformation Centre (DTC). The goal of the DTC is to strengthen the country’s digital economy by fostering the digital innovation ecosystem, (up)skilling a tech-savvy workforce, assisting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in their digital transformation, promoting data-sharing for value creation, and working towards decent job creation in a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments.
This SKIIVE project comprises two work packages, namely
- skills development, access to finance, and start-up promotion, and
- setting up a locally owned Kenyan green digital innovation hub to support MSMEs.
Kenya’s sustainable economic development is a shared responsibility that this project directly contributes to in terms of strengthening the digital economy. To this end, GFA experts foster the digital transformation of MSMEs, close the digital gender divide and the ICT skills gap, make MSMEs, women and youth better positioned and prepared to create sustainable enterprises and self-employment in a free market economy.