Compassion International Kenya has announced Daniel Mwayayi as the winner of the Youth Business Challenge 2022. Mwayayi, a leather shoe manufacturer from County Kilifi, became the first among 102 other entrepreneurs.
The challenge aims to recognize the best business ideas, provide mentorship and create cohorts of peers who support sustainable business growth. The Initiative attracted 103 applications this year with real businesses.
Once the entries were submitted, twenty were shortlisted to present in front of a jury.
Daniel Mwayayi brought home a mobile phone and Ksh 50,000.00 as seed capital to reinvest in his leather shoe manufacturing business. The second and third place winners received Ksh30,000.00 and Ksh20,000.00 respectively.
Daniel Mwayayi said, “I am happy and grateful to Compassion for accompanying me throughout my journey from childhood to adulthood. Thanks to them, I was able to realize my dream of education. Now they
challenged me to be a better entrepreneur, and this money will go a long way in helping me grow
my company.”
High rates of unemployment and underemployment have forced young people to innovate for their livelihoods. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Quarterly Labor Force Report from January to March 2021, the overall employment-to-population ratio for the working-age population (15-64 years) was 63.7%.
The age groups 20-24 and 25-29 continued to have the highest proportion of unemployed (measured by the strict definition of not working, looking for work in the last four weeks and work) at (392,068) 16.3 percent and (286,097) 9.1 percent, respectively. Labor underutilization (time-related underemployment and unemployment) was (392,068) 23.2% and (286,097) 15.3%, respectively. Young people aged 20 to 24 have the highest long-term unemployment rate, which was (325,985) 13.5%. Compassion International Kenya is committed to improving the livelihoods of young people through mentorship and funding.
Compassion Kenya supports over 135,000 children aged 0-22 across the country. The organization does this by improving health care, providing access to basic and technical education, and giving caregivers the knowledge and skills to increase their income and become financially independent. In July 2022, Compassion International Kenya launched the second edition of the Youth Business Challenge for its program participants who run MSMEs.
Compassion International Kenya has partnered with Sote Hub and Sinapis through the Aspire
Launchpad to provide mentorship and post-event incubation to young entrepreneurs. The rest of the top
seventeen winners each received Ksh 10,000.00. The 20 participants will be inducted into incubation
programs to equip them with more skills to scale up.
Samuel Wambugu, Country Director of Compassion Kenya, had this to say: “We train young people to focus on the opportunities available. The entrepreneurs you see here are problem solvers and
innovators. Nothing can be in the world without business, and Compassion International Kenya is
committed to training professionals in all fields.
