Coca-Cola, Almasi Beverages, USAID launches Kuza Kazi in Kisii

Coca-Cola in partnership with its bottling partner Almasi Beverages and USAID Kenya Youth Employment and Skills has launched a job-creation initiative dubbed Kuza Kazi in Kisii County that seeks to create entrepreneurship opportunities to address the high rate of unemployment in Kenya.

Through this initiative, the company aims to economically empower 1,000 youth from Kisii County by boosting their entrepreneurial skills and equipping them to start table-top businesses.

Almasi Beverages Commercial Director Joel Kibowen says addressing the high rate of unemployment in the country requires both the private and public sectors to work together.

Kuza Kazi initiative which is aligned to the government’s ‘Big Four’ agenda, aims not only at increasing employment, but also formalizing the informal sector which currently represents 82.7 percent of employment in Kenya.

Kisii Governor James Ongwae welcomed the initiative that is designed to work through the existing Coca-Cola ecosystem, utilizing the supply chain operated by the Coca-Cola bottling companies.

The Kuza Kazi initiative, seeks to harness the power of Coca-Cola’s supply chain to create 50,000 jobs for Kenyan youth annually in partnership with donors, like-minded private sector entities and support from county governments.