Jesse Odippo

How it began

Every year, thousands of young people enter the job market, with only a small percentage of them finding opportunities in the formal economy/sector. For many, the other alternative is the informal economy, self-employment, or creating opportunities for themselves.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics 2026 economic survey, Kenya created 822,100 jobs in 2025, and 87.2% of them were informal sector jobs. Only 12.8% were in the modern/formal sector. That means that nearly nine out of every ten jobs created in Kenya last year were informal. Some of these opportunities were created by people themselves through entrepreneurship, with some going on to create work for others.

At JAY4T, we believe that addressing youth unemployment is not only about creating jobs. It is also about equipping young people with the knowledge, skills and support they need to create their own enterprises and build sustainable livelihoods.

In December 2025, JAY4T finalised plans for the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP) and opened applications for young people interested in joining the programme. Initially, YEP was designed as a six-month accelerator, with the first cohort running from March to August 2026. 

The goal of YEP is to equip young people with entrepreneurship skills and business development knowledge while providing mentorship and support throughout their entrepreneurship journey.

YEP also serves as an accelerator to JAY4T’s three employment social enterprises: LigiOpen – a platform that promotes inclusivity, talent development, and sustainable opportunities for players, clubs, and communities; Kaakazini – a digital platform that allows craftsmen to digitally manage clients and projects, build their portfolios, and enhance their professional growth; and SoteTule – an enterprise that supports farmer groups and enhances the value chain with modern infrastructure and skills. 

YEP officially launched in March 2026. A total of 183 young people registered interest in the programme, with 31 participants – 15 female and 16 male – joining the first intake. Participants came from different counties, with most coming from Kisumu, where the programme is based.

The Shift

More than 20 young people reached out and expressed interest after the March intake closed. This made us think again: If young people are ready to join the programme at different times, does it make sense to make them wait for the next cohort?

We realised that it didn’t

We recognised the need for a more flexible approach. Instead of operating as a fixed-cohort accelerator, YEP is evolving into a continuous programme – one that allows young people to enter at different points and progress through personalised entrepreneurship and employment pathways.

The shift changes how we think about supporting young people, not just about keeping applications open.
Instead of bringing everyone into the programme at the same time and expecting them to move on at the same pace, the continuous model allows participants to progress according to their individual stage, interests, skills and readiness. 

The young people who joined through the March intake are now being supported through a CRM-managed journey. The CRM helps us track the participants through different stages of their journey, including intake and assessment, preparation and training, and placement within JAY4T’s employment social enterprises. 
It also helps us coordinate support such as weekly check-ins, coaching, life-planning workshops and other activities designed to help participants keep moving forward.

But as the programme evolves, we have also recognised an important gap.

With YEP moving from a single cohort to a continuous programme, coordination is no longer a one-time task; rather, it becomes an ongoing, individualised job – tracking where each person is in their journey, understanding who may be stalled, connecting participants to the right mentors, and deciding when someone’s ready to move toward opportunities with LigiOpen, Kaakazini, or SoteTule. That is a full-time coordination that a CRM alone doesn’t solve. 
That is why JAY4T has begun recruiting a programme lead who will coordinate YEP and provide closer support to participating young people.

The programme lead will help ensure that the continuous model remains personal rather than becoming just another system for tracking numbers. As participants progress at different stages, someone needs to be paying attention to their individual journey, intervening when they fall behind, and helping make the right mentor and pathway connections based on their abilities, interests and needs.

This is an important part of what the shift means for YEP. As we roll out this new continuous model, applications for YEP remain open. Young people no longer have to wait for the next cohort to begin their entrepreneurship journey.

They can join, build their entrepreneurship and business development skills, receive support and mentorship, and grow alongside JAY4T’s ecosystem of social enterprises.

YEP is no longer just a six-month cohort but a continuous pathway for young people ready to explore entrepreneurship, employment and sustainable livelihoods.