General Electric enters new pact to build skills in Kenya

American conglomerate General Electric has announced multi-million dollar partnership with Seven Seas Technologies and two local universities to develop a manufacturing ecosystem and build skills in Kenya.

Dubbed GE Garages manufacturing programme, GE Africa will work with another private firm Gearbox, in building a skilled workforce and drive entrepreneurial development in Kenya.

“We are delighted to collaborate with like-minded establishments on an initiative that aims to make more Kenyan youth employable in a fast changing technology-driven world,” said GE Africa President and CEO Jay Ireland

“I’m looking forward to seeing great ideas that come to the GE Garage being transformed into practical business models that ultimately create more jobs in Kenya,” he said yesterday, ahead of the visit by American Head of State Barack Obama.

Beneficiaries of the training programme could be absorbed into emerging sectors of the economy, including Oil and Gas, which is projected to create between 6,000 and 15,000 new jobs over the next ten years with the majority requiring technical or vocational training.

Already, GE has various interests in Kenya including a wind farm in Kinangop that it is putting up at an estimated cost of $150 million (Sh15b), expected to generate about 100MW of electricity.

The GE Garages space, which will be hosted at Gearbox’s premises, will support classes and workshops, for students, entrepreneurs and others to learn more about advanced manufacturing processes, software programming and business development.

It will feature advanced manufacturing innovations like 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC mills for the industrial world to encourage entrepreneurial disruption and a skilled workforce for the future. General Electric would provide the necessary equipment while University of Nairobi, Technical University of Kenya and Seven Seas Technologies will provide input to programme as well as training facilities.

GE is among the leading technology firms that are attending the Global Entrepreneurship Summit that open tomorrow at the United Nations Headquarters in Nairobi. It is expected that upcoming entrepreneurs will access funding opportunities and mentorship through the international business leaders attending the summit, including representatives from Google and Microsoft.

Gearbox is in the process of assembling a formidable arsenal of modern machines and CAD/CAM software for digital fabrication, alongside more traditional but essential technologies, all under one roof to be made accessible on a membership basis to people who currently have no such opportunity.

Soft skills

They will need to be trained on the use of this state-of-the-art equipment, but also in the soft skills that are necessary to leverage the tech-knowledge so as to successfully launch businesses. This partnership serves both needs.

The provision of a GE Garage at Gearbox is essential to developing a continuous pipeline of people skilled in modern technologies.

University of Nairobi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Lucy Irungu welcomed the partnership, saying it is a great opportunity for engineering students to gain access to modern equipment and methods that would ensure their undergraduate and post-graduate projects have greater impact on the region’s economic needs.

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