By Emmanuel Maleve
The Government of Kenya in partnership with the counties is launching the ”PLUG Mtaani, Vijana 2 Invest” business idea competition – Kitui CECM for Trade, Industry, MSMES, innovation and Cooperatives Rose Mutuku has said.
In her address to the press team, the CECM said the Plug Mtaani Business Idea Competition is designed to nurture the talents of young entrepreneurs by providing them with soft skills and business plan development training.
“The project aims to foster a spirit of innovation, resilience, and determination among the youth.” she said. To achieve the goals, the project has devised a comprehensive approach that includes capacity building.
The project will offer training at county & national levels.The youths in Kitui are required to register through https://innovation.kitui.go.ke
This will place them in a better position to compete for sh. 10 million grand prize nationally.
There are six (6) broad categories for Selection of the Youth Innovators including Food security/Agriculture e.g. post-harvest loss management, Yield improvement initiatives, value-addition and aggregation;, Housing e.g. low-cost housing building materials, Creative Arts;, Energy Conservation/Environmental/Natural Resource Management; Health and wellness Innovation;, Manufacturing e.g. leather industry; and any other relevant category as may be unanimously agreed by the Technical Committee.
Kitui County Minister for Culture, Gender, Youth, ICT, Sports & Social Services Phoebe Mutemi said the process is designed to discover, train, and showcase the best business ideas among the youth.
She further added that the nine winners in each county will proceed for competition at the National level while the 191 innovators at county level, will benefit from continuous trainings, mentorship and apprenticeship programs aimed at nurturing their business ideas.
The youths in Kitui are required to register until the date of launch scheduled on Thursday, September 21, 2023.
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