On 15^th July, KEPSA, through the Ajira Digital Program, participated in the Skill Up Africa 2025 Forum held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi, as part of activities marking World Youth Skills Day. The event themed:Youth empowerment through AI and digital skills, brought together young people, government agencies, private sector leaders, Academia, and development partners among others to explore scalable solutions that bridge the gap between skills development and employment across the continent. KEPSA’s participation reaffirmed its commitment to empowering young people through digital skills training, online work readiness, and ecosystem partnerships that unlock access to meaningful and sustainable livelihoods.

As the demand for digitally skilled talent rises sharply, millions of young Kenyans remain excluded from the digital economy. According to the 2025 Ajira Emerging Trends Report, the digital work ecosystem in Kenya holds immense potential, with more than 60% of private sector employers indicating a growing need for digitally skilled youth. Additionally, despite increasing awareness of online work opportunities, only a small fraction of youth is fully equipped to compete at the global level due to gaps in digital readiness and soft skills. The Skill Up Africa provided a crucial opportunity to surface these insights, foster dialogue between stakeholders, and align policy, private sector, and institutional efforts toward inclusive, skill-driven employment pathways.

While officially opening the forum and delivering her key remarks, Hon. Rebecca Miano Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, highlighted government's strong commitment to youth empowerment, innovation, and inclusive economic growth. In her remarks, CS Miano announced the launch of the Tourism & Wildlife AI Solutions Hackathon, a national initiative part of the broader National Youth Empowerment Strategy aimed at positioning young Kenyans at the heart of tourism, conservation, and the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) sectors. “The initiative seeks to harness youth creativity and digital expertise through music, sports, gaming, technology, and art, to demystify tourism, promote peace, and foster national pride. Aligned with Kenya’s digital transformation and climate resilience agenda, the Hackathon leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive sustainable innovation in tourism and conservation.” Said Hon Miano

Also speaking during the event, Mr Shadrack Mwadime, PS for the State Department for Labour and Skills Development emphasized the importance of leveraging youth potential to drive national transformation. He noted the timely opportunity to harness the creativity, innovative spirit, and technological acumen of young people to not only transform their own lives but also build solutions that address real challenges in communities and systems. “By embracing digital technology, we are adopting forward-looking solutions and actively contributing to the economic growth of our nation. Let us reaffirm our commitment to equipping youth with relevant skills and promoting collaboration to ensure every young person is employable, enterprising, adaptable, and innovative in today’s fast-changing world,” He said.

During a panel session themed; “Artificial Intelligence, Tech Skills, and Digital Literacy: How Digitization is Reshaping the Job Market for African Youth,” Mrs. Mary Kerema, Secretary ICT, E-Government and Digital Economy delivered a compelling critique of Kenya’s current digital skills framework. She noted that the country’s labour systems and curricula remain “frozen in time,” while the global job market shifts every three months. Citing the lack of real-time data on digital skills and job opportunities, she called for the establishment of a national skills dashboard to track emerging trends and better align training to market needs. She urged stakeholders to move from simply training youth to annotate AI to equipping them to build and guide AI reinforcing the need for Kenya to become a true innovation hub.

Representing KEPSA on the same panel, Judy Nyakwara, Project Officer under the Ajira Digital Program, echoed the urgency for a skills evolution that matches the digital economy’s pace. She emphasized KEPSA’s commitment to public-private collaboration in digital skills training, which bridge learning and employment. Judy underscored the need to empower youth not just as digital users, but as creators and innovators. All panellists also agreed on the need for government to legislate digital infrastructure, prioritize digital learning in curricula, access to marginalized and rural communities and foster an environment where youth are not just job seekers but job creators, designing solutions for global markets locally.

Some of the issues and takeaways from the panel session include:

• Kenya’s most in-demand digital skills include data analysis, digital marketing, UI/UX design, cloud computing, and AI literacy.
• AI is reshaping youth employment, replacing routine roles while creating new ones in content creation, data services, and automation.
• The need to strengthen community-based digital literacy by localizing content and expanding grassroots access.
• Tech firms to collaborate in support skilling through partnerships, free certifications, curriculum development, and platform access.
• Local language content is key to digital inclusion, improving accessibility and comprehension for diverse learner groups.
• Digital safety and misinformation are now core parts of training, covering privacy, online ethics, and platform responsibility.
• Integrating informal workers into the digital economy requires platform inclusion, training, and protections for gig workers.

The event, set to run through to 16th July 2025, also brought together a diverse range of exhibitors showcasing innovations, digital platforms, training opportunities, and youth-led enterprises. From interactive demos to career support booths, the exhibition space offered participants hands-on exposure to emerging tools and pathways in the digital economy.

Read the full Emerging Trends and Private Sector in the Digital Work Ecosystem here