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Good practice Imported

Ajira Digital Programme

Kenya · Nairobi · See the Kenya profile · See the Nairobi profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 76% 57/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Kenya's national digital-jobs programme has trained ~391,000 youth since 2016 via 101 empowerment centres and mentorship, linking them to online freelance/BPO work — but only about a third report earning online income, and no independent impact evaluation exists yet.

~9,000 people
Youth trained (early snapshot) (2021)
59,000 people
Youth trained, cumulative (December 2021)
~391,000 people
Youth trained, cumulative (June 2024)
~33 %
Trained youth reporting online income (as of latest reporting)
<40 %
Female participation in ICT training (as of latest reporting)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ministry of ICT, Innovation & Youth Affairs (Kenya), with Mastercard Foundation, KEPSA and eMobilis Technology Training Institute
Period
2016–present
Keywords
Digital jobs, youth employment, gig economy, online freelancing, digital skills training

Context

Ajira Digital ('ajira' means 'job' in Swahili) is a Kenyan government initiative launched in November 2016 by the then Ministry of ICT to connect youth to online and digitally-enabled work, including freelancing, transcription, virtual assistance, e-commerce and business-process outsourcing. The programme responds to youth unemployment in Kenya, reported by KIPPRA at over 30%, and has grown into a nationwide network reaching all 47 counties, with Mastercard Foundation as principal strategic partner since 2019.

Activities

Training and support are delivered free of charge through 101 Ajira Youth Empowerment Centres nationwide and more than 35 Ajira Clubs based in universities and TVET colleges, combining digital-skills training, mentorship and job-matching support for young people seeking online and digitally-enabled work.

Results

Cumulative numbers trained grew from around 9,000 (2021 snapshot) to 59,000 by December 2021 and to approximately 391,000 by June 2024. About one-third of trained youth report earning online income. Female participation in ICT training remains under 40%. No independent impact evaluation has been completed; figures come from a 2021 Dalberg implementation report and a TIFA tracer survey commissioned by the programme, and MIT's Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) confirms no independent causal evaluation exists.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Not published in available sources.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Launched November 2016; scaled to 101 centres and 35+ university/TVET clubs, reaching all 47 counties by 2024.
Staffing & skills
Delivered through 101 Ajira Youth Empowerment Centres nationwide and 35+ Ajira Clubs in universities and TVET colleges

Conditions for success

  • Nationwide network of physical training centres and university/TVET-based clubs
  • Strategic partnership with Mastercard Foundation since 2019

Common failure modes

  • Female participation in ICT training remains under 40%
  • Only about one-third of trained youth report earning online income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes Philanthropic / foundation funding

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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