K Hub Project

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Kikwetu Foundation, a Kenyan-based NGO with close to a decade’s worth of grassroots experience working with the youth, has launched the K-Hub (Kikwetu Hub) program whose goal is to train 20,000 young software developers in Nairobi's Eastlands area by 2033.

The program has been motivated by the fact that most initiatives in Kenya that deal with enhancing tech skills are typically located in more affluent areas. As a result, most of the beneficiaries of these programs already come from privileged backgrounds, whether economically or academically. No program currently exists that specifically focuses on Eastlands, meaning that very few young people in the area have the opportunity to gain skills in tech and development. What this means is that a majority of Eastlands youths are being left behind and sidelined in the tech revolution that has been sweeping across not only Kenya but Africa as a whole in recent years. This is despite the fact that poor youth are the ones who require the most support in terms of being equipped with tech skills. K-Hub therefore exists to close this skills gap by leading the revolution in training the often-forgotten Eastlands youth with much-needed tech, programming, and software development skills that will allow them to compete in the digital and e-commerce market, both now and in the future.

The 10-year program shall officially be kick-started in 2024 . The word 'Eastlando’ is Kenyan slang for Eastlands and by using the catchy hashtag #DevsEastlando, we will be able to create considerable momentum and popularity for the initiative, given that youths in Eastlands (our target group) will be able to relate and resonate with it. Therefore, through these hashtags, K-Hub will be able to galvanize support behind the program and create a sustained online movement towards encouraging 20,000 young people in Nairobi to receive training in tech from the program, thereby helping us to achieve the incredible milestone of training 20,000 developers in Eastlands.

It is against this backdrop, therefore, that Kikwetu Foundation, through the K-Hub Incubation Centre, is actively working towards creating a sustainable program to stimulate the development of a vibrant technopreneurial economy where young people in Eastlands will be inspired to venture into the tech field once they see that it is a viable career option. In the process, we shall be contributing towards creating thousands of job opportunities for young Kenyans in Eastlands and Nairobi as a whole.

Tech is undoubtedly the key to future prosperity because the world is increasingly becoming digital, and without software development and programming skills, Eastlands youths stand the real risk of continuing to be economically disenfranchised due to unemployment and the lack of skills necessary to create tech-driven businesses. With this program, therefore, we will be directly facilitating the economic growth of one of Nairobi’s most historically economically disenfranchised areas by allowing thousands of young people to not only secure employment in the tech space but also to create jobs for themselves and other members of the community.