YOUTH CRITICAL IN UNLOCKING KENYA'S GROWTH POTENTIAL

 Countries like Kenya, which have a relatively youthful population, stand on the runway of economic take off if they find the correct formula to harness the energy, creativity and entrepreneurship that young people have to offer. The youth are an economic force that can both drive and create demand for goods and services especially due to the growing digital economy.

However, even with this major advantage, these countries also face the attendant risk of ensuring that their youths do not fall prey to political Machinations that can turn them in to dynamite especially in the run-up to general elections. How then can Kenya position itself to benefit from it's youthful demographic while avoiding the political pitfall?

Engaging young people enriches institutions and processes, and the current dynamic global situation emphasizes this. If we take just one critical aspect of empowering the youth such as skills development, we not only engage them in creating sustainable economic solutions for themselves and their dependants, but we also elevate our competitiveness and productivity as a country.

We have a great advantage as nation of young, vibrant and highly creative youth. They account for about 75 percentage of Kenya's population according to the World's Bank. However, they are not adequately enabled to participate in our country's social, economic and political development.