Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir has called on the national government, private sector, community organizations and young people to work together to address youth unemployment, describing the county’s growing youth population as both a challenge and an opportunity for economic development.

Speaking during the official opening ceremony of Pwani Innovation Week, Nassir said the biggest problem facing Mombasa and the rest of Kenya is the lack of jobs, opportunities and a sense of ownership among young people.

He urged the stakeholders to create an environment in which young people could participate meaningfully in economic growth.

“Facts don’t lie, the fact remains that we have a huge, bulging youth population, we stand at a crossroads on whether we are going to be able to turn this youth population to our advantage or lament and make it a disadvantage,” he said.

The governor identified four key stakeholders whose collaboration was necessary to address youth unemployment: the government, the private sector, community organizations and young people themselves.

He likened their collaboration to four fingers forming a fist, saying coordinated efforts would be essential in turning the county’s youthful population into a driver of development.

Nassir said the county government was preparing to expand youth participation in waste collection through the Mombasa ni Yangu programme and also announced a new initiative, Skills Mitaani, which will identify young people’s talents, provide certification and connect them with mentorship and funding opportunities.

He said the initiative would help young people turn their skills into sustainable businesses, enabling them not only to become self-employed but also to create jobs for others.

“The county government has allocated some resources to finance these young people and connect them to job opportunities, so that they can say they are not only self-employed but can also become employers,” Nassir said.

He urged the private sector to increase investment in young people, arguing that businesses would benefit when more citizens secured jobs and had disposable income to spend on goods and services.

The governor also called on companies to direct their corporate social responsibility programmes towards supporting local youth.

He also urged teachers, religious leaders and parents to play a greater role in guiding and mentoring the next generation.

Nassir encouraged young people to remain hopeful, patient and proactive despite the challenges they face in securing employment.

“If you have no patience, at least have hope and the courage to believe that you can actually be a better person,” he said.

He cautioned that isolated negative incidents could overshadow years of progress, noting that media coverage often gave prominence to sensational stories while paying less attention to positive developments.

The governor maintained that young people should be viewed as partners in solving societal challenges rather than as a problem and their voices and ideas to be taken seriously in development planning.

“Your voice matters, your thoughts matter and every single time that you wake up, realize that you have a government that is going to be rolling its sleeves for every step that you want to be able to come up with a positive move,” he said.

By Vanessa Sariman and Phellogloria Adhiambo