The power of peers
Breaking down barriers for young Kenyan entrepreneurs
Over 1 million young people enter the Kenyan job market each year, but 90% of them will never find formal employment. Most young people end up generating income in the informal sector, which accounts for over 83% of total employment and 91% of available jobs in the country.
These young people are not just working in the informal sector; 3 million of them are running businesses of their own and creating jobs for others. That’s almost a third of 15–24 year olds who are selling mandazis, growing vegetables, or running dukas (convenience stores) meeting the day-to-day needs of underserved households across the country. This often overlooked group contributes an estimated $290M to the economy every month.
Despite young Kenyans’ reliance on and contribution to the informal economy, the education system does little to equip them for it. Schools still prepare young people for a formal working world that is simply unavailable to them.
Therefore, there is an acute need to provide these young people with the skills they need to build even better businesses, manage their money, grow their success, and give back to their families and communities. With adequate guidance, these young entrepreneurs can become the stabilized bedrock of the informal sector in Kenya which many of them aspire to be. You can hear young people’s ambition in these stories.
Research shows that these young entrepreneurs want to learn from and be inspired by successful peers who have experienced what they’re facing — not professors, and not in classrooms. Academic programs and typical entrepreneurship courses can help a person learn the basics of starting a business, but they can be isolating and intimidating for young entrepreneurs.
Experienced entrepreneurs say that the best lessons and secrets are shared directly from other experienced business owners. Platforms which enable peer-to-peer support create a needed ecosystem for new entrepreneurs to access information and trusted support 24/7.
To adequately prepare young Kenyans for the informal economy, Strive Community is partnering with Shujaaz Inc. This project will enable young entrepreneurs to make meaningful connections with peers they can trust. This has been shown through Shujaaz’s work to help young people’s businesses succeed, their incomes increase, and their families and communities prosper.
Through the project, Shujaaz Inc will continue to design and build a new online community, designed specifically for entrepreneurs in the informal economy, called MESH. As part of MESH, young entrepreneurs will have access to an innovative peer learning environment that combines business skills programs with peer-to-peer networking and role-model mentoring. Together, we’re working to connect entrepreneurs with information, skills, and resources to transition their informal micro-enterprises into thriving small businesses.
On the MESH platform, members can access an extensive library of peer training videos, and connect with peers and mentors who have complementary skills or interests. With the Strive Community, Shujaaz Inc will also test the use of anonymized user-generated data to match learners to digital tools and services most suited to their specific needs.
Two time Emmy-award winning network of social ventures, Shujaaz Inc, launched in 2009 with a youth-facing multi-media brand. Their namesake first venture, ‘Shujaaz’, follows the story of a 19-year-old radio DJ and influencer living in the outskirts of Nairobi. The platform, which evolved from a comic book, brings young people together to talk about their experiences and the challenges they face. More than a decade on, Shujaaz (which means ‘hero’) reaches 9.5 million 15 to 24-year olds — 71% of young Kenyans and 15% of young Tanzanians.
We’re very excited for the impact and learnings that will result from our partnership with Shujaaz Inc. If you want to learn more about the project, please get in touch with us at hello@thestrivecommunity.org.
