Nairobi — Kenyan based Social Enterprise Toolkit Iskill (TTI) has urged youths in the country to warm up to the immense opportunities in the clean energy sector.
According to the organization, the country is facing an acute shortage of trained technicians capable of installing and maintaining solar equipment.
A report done by ToolKit in collaboration with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the French Embassy estimates that the Country will need up to 30,000 trained solar technicians by 2025 a figure that the company opines may not be attained if the current numbers of youths trained in solar being churned out by Technical and Vocational Training Institutes (TVET) are anything to go by.
“We did this report to provide evidence of the work of the Toolkit Iskill, to map solar companies in Kenya that gave us all the skill set that they are looking for in the Youth,” said Jane Muigai, Director and Founder, Toolkit Iskills (TTI)
In order to fill the current gap in the solar market TTI rolled out a training program targeting youth in Nairobi and Kakuma.
The training was based on existing government curriculum and improved with the private sector’s current demands.
Trainees from the program have been given certification that will grant them labor mobility across Kenya and the East Africa region.
Muigai decried the importation of technicians to serve the African continent’s clean energy needs whilst it is endowed with a youthful population.
“Africa is importing skilled labor when its teeming with a youth dividend. We need to take advantage of the growing sectors in Africa,” Muigai said.