Employers in Kenya have voiced growing concerns about the quality and preparedness of applicants for entry-level positions. Many new employees, particularly in customer service and call centres, lack meaningful work experience, an understanding of how businesses work, and the drive to make entry-level opportunities a success.
To address this challenge, AMI, in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation, is developing a scalable model for training and placing disadvantaged youth into entry-level positions. This 6-week job-readiness ‘bootcamp’, called the Youth Employment Accelerator (YEA), will launch its first pilot programme in Nairobi in September. The programme will leverage AMI’s blended learning approach to prepare 200 unemployed youth ages 18-24 to take on a customer service or call centre position with some of Kenya’s innovative and fast-growing companies.
“We’re incredibly excited about the potential of this programme. We want to help unemployed youth get and stay employed, and we want to give Kenyan organisations access to a great pool of untapped talent. Our goal is to create something powerful and affordable that we can easily scale – this pilot is hopefully only the beginning” – Bronwen McConkey-Nwandu, AMI’s Chief Product Officer
Currently, AMI is finishing up the design of the programme – from the rigorous selection process to the engaging and practical learning programme (covering a wide variety of skills – from practical skills like typing and writing good emails, to more complex skills like working in teams, professionalism and customer service). Coming out of the programme, recruits will be ready to interview with and excel within the organizations that hire them.
The programme will start in mid-September, with recruits ready for hiring in November/December. AMI is in the process of reaching out to companies in Kenya who might be interested in having access to YEA graduates – if you are interested or would like to learn more, please contact Edna Chepngeno, the Programme Manager for YEA (yea@africanmanagers.org).
To learn more, visit the website: yea.africanmanagers.org
AMI Blog 
I have read this page and got much intetest in it ..hw do i go about it please
LikeLike