Kitui Governor Julius Malombe on Thursday launched the youth business idea contest dubbed Plug Mtaani Vijana 2Invest initiative.
The competition is designed to identify and nurture business acumen among young entrepreneurs in Kitui county.
The Kitui youth selected to take part in the initiative will be provided with soft skills and business plan development during the training that begun immediately.
A total of 200 youth with excellent business ideas were selected to take part in the training.
Ultimately, following the training and a county level competition, three top performers will be picked to represent Kitui county at the national contest.
The national level competition will bring together three contestants from each of the 47 counties in Kenya.
During the launch that took place outside the Kitui County headquarters, Malombe hailed the initiative that is being carried out in collaboration with the National government.
He described the competition as a powerful testament to the collective commitment of the County Government of Kitui and the National government towards empowering the youth and advancing the society as a whole.
Malombe said the initiative was a transformational agenda that recognises the youth as essential and indispensable drivers in economic growth.
He added that the plan was also a reflection of Kitui’s dedication to the 16-point development agenda which lays strong emphasis on supporting Micro, Small, and Medium-sized enterprises.
He said a key plank of the Kitui development agenda was to identify and nurture talents across various sectors especially among the youth.
Malombe said Kenya faces a serious youth unemployment problem and needs to introduce initiatives to deal with joblessness.
“At county level, we have approved our participation in this competition through the Ministry of Trade, MSMEs, Innovation and Cooperatives in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Youth, ICT, and Sports & Social Services to spearhead this initiative,” he said.
The county boss asked the youth to believe in their cause to be able to shine, through being innovative and turn their dreams to reality.
He assured the youth his government’s unwavering support.
Malombe said he was focused on realising a legacy of a people with a positive mindset keen on improving the county for posterity.