Kenyan youths take on net skills

Students are taught a range of computer skills

A project offering business skills to impoverished Kenyan youths has been recognised with a prestigious award.

The non-profit Global Education Partnership - Wundanyi won the $7,500 (£4,213) Africa Hafkin Communications Prize.

Computer and software skills play a key part of the training.

The Hafkin prize recognises African initiatives in the use of information and communications technology for development.

Young entrepreneurs

The Global Education Partnership - Wundanyi (GEP) is based in the Taita Taveta district of eastern Kenya.

The area is one of the poorest in the country, with a poverty rate of 66%.

Many students, like this one, go on to set up their own businesses

The aim of the project is to improve the job prospects of Kenyans aged between 15 and 24.

Over the past nine years, GEP has trained 948 students. Of these, 47 have gone on to set up their own businesses.

The 12-week course is heavily subsidised, with students paying just $12.50 (£7.00).

They are taught commercial skills, such as writing a business plan, marketing, and buying and selling goods.

They are also shown how to use computers for spreadsheets and CVs, as well as drawing on the resources of the internet.

Local heroes

"Information communication technologies are not used for their own sake, they're integrated in a clear vision of development," said one of the judges, Canada's International Development Research Centre programme officer, Ramata Molo Thioune.

Students take part in a GEP tree-planting exercise

The award was set up by Nancy Hafkin, a pioneer in introducing information and communication technology in Africa.

She described the GEP project as "an excellent example of a locally led initiative that is using information technology to give hope and possibilities to the youth of rural Africa."

"There are other computer training courses in the district, but the costs are high and they are stand-alone courses, not linked to the other skills that young people need to set them on the path of sustainability."

The Hafkin prize is organised by the Association for Progressive Communications.