The youth need to showcase their ideas and dreams and someone shapes it

By WINSLEY MASESE

With thousands of graduates entering a saturated job market, annually, start-ups have emerged as significant option to create wealth and employment. However, there are numerous challenges encountered along the way. Statistics indicate a good number of businesses do not live beyond their fifth birthday.

It is the stark reality that Hakimani Jesuit Centre seeks to reduce by providing the necessary tips to students wishing to venture into business. “Though endowed with brilliant ideas, they however find it difficult to develop them into commercially viable enterprises,” said the Centre Executive Director Elias Mokua.

Dream careers

He observes that innovative young people need support to open up their self-belief and dreams. “This is where we are, to assist them realise their dream careers by allowing them showcase ideas and assist in where we can,” he added. Youth need to be taken through the process on how to protect it. “To generate ideas is a process and though you may have one, expressing it might be difficult hence need someone to shape it.”

Along the journey is the need to incubate the idea, where you panel beat it until you create a prototype. “With the support of companies, they can finance the ideas commercialisation and be taken to the market,” he said.

The centre has a programme that brings university students together to showcase their innovation. Recently, a university student’s idea was identified and admitted at the Chandaria Business Innovation and Incubation Centre, at the Kenyatta University.

“We seek to help the young people understand the entrepreneurial skills and help them to bring out the best in them,” said Dr Mokua.