Sote Hub in Voi has 200 members and is one of the first Kenyan startup hubs outside Nairobi. It helps local youth, mainly secondary school graduates from our Sote ICT Clubs and training companies, to gain new business and coding skills and start their own business or find work. Within the first year of existence we helped to establish 4 startups. Now we assist 4 more. At Sote ICT Clubs we have currently 850 members.
The problem of youth unemployment is a global one, and developing countries like Kenya are particularly affected. The increasing pace of automation can threaten especially jobs in developing countries that are often easier to automate. Even in the OECD countries, only 5-8% of adult population has a more advanced IT skills. Digital literacy, digital fabrication and practical business skills education are not well developed in Kenya. We work with mostly low performing rural schools.
We grow startups from rural Kenyan schools. We help schools to create Sote ICT Clubs, donate technology, train teachers and support regular club activities of 850 students at 12 secondary schools who compete in creating business plans, videos and websites. They also do business in their 26 training companies with their peers in Kenya, during annual trade fairs, and online with students abroad. Our program is special in combining secondary schools and startup hubs.
We currently serve 12 secondary schools in Taita Taveta, 850 students at Sote ICT Clubs and their graduates and other youth at our Sote Hub in Voi. Around 200 students graduate annualy from our Sote ICT Clubs, and around 1000 of their peers are indirectly benefiting from computer labs and better digital literacy programs, even though they aren't members of Sote ICT Clubs, At Sote Hub we have over 200 members and helped to establish 6 tech startups already. This year we want to scale to Kwale.
