• Jitume labs are aimed at addressing issues of connectivity, device access and digital skills, as well as job opportunities.
• According to Owalo, the phones will be sold for $40 (Sh5,600).
A total 336, 000 youth have so far been trained on digital jobs under the Ajira digital and Jitume programme, the government has said.
ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo said some 109 digital jobs for the youth have been created.
Under program, the government seeks to train youth in ICT skills using the existing TVET institutions.
This is "to create a critical mass of skilled labour to support and benefit from the digital economy".
Owalo who was giving his Ministry's scorecard in the last 10 months also disclosed that they have managed through stakeholder partnerships to secure a donation of 23,000 digital devices for deployment for purposes of digital skilling.
We have deployed these devices in 77 TVETs, four Universities, 21 schools and 100 ministry departments and agencies," he explained.
He added that 174 digital hubs have already been established and operationalized.
Jitume labs are aimed at addressing issues of connectivity, device access and digital skills, as well as job opportunities.
The skills gained, he said, will be directed to the market sector through digital entrepreneurship.
This, he said, will enable Kenyans to access government services on their smartphone devices and which has since been identified as an impediment in the process.
He revealed that there are plans to locally assemble the smartphones with its rollout set to begin in the next month.
According to Owalo, the phones will be sold for $40 (Sh5,600).
"We have gone a step further to partner with the private sector to embark on the assembly of smart enables phones in the Kenyan market," he said.
"We will subsequently move from local assembly to local manufacture of the handsets and we move to the next level of local manufacture".