This archive report was first published on 19 August 2019.
On August 19, 2019, the BLAZE Be Your Own Boss Summit (BYOB) kicked off in Mariakani, Kilifi County, bringing together over 1,300 youth to learn from BLAZE partners and mentors on entrepreneurship.
The summit marked the beginning of BLAZE's engagements in the Coast region, following two weeks after the conclusion of Western Region Summits, which engaged over 9,000 youth in Kakamega, Kisii, and Kisumu Counties.
According to Michael Joseph, Safaricom CEO, "As has been our mission since we launched BLAZE in 2016, the fourth edition of BLAZE Be Your Own Boss (BYOB) continues to empower Kenyan youth by providing access to a platform that allows them to connect, learn and showcase their talents."
BYOB features youth mentorship summits and creation camps focused on empowering Kenyan youth to achieve success by providing valuable information, skills, and networking opportunities in various fields, including creative arts, fashion, film and photography, music, agriculture, sales and production, and sports.
Attendees interacted with local mentors, industry experts, through interest-specific pods, where they went through workshops and learned from the mentors' experiences.
The Mariakani Edition featured mentors such as Fundi Frank (fashion designer), Nana Kimemia (IQ mentor), Catherine Kamau (Actress), Eric Musyoka (Music Producer), Jibril Blessing (Video Director), among others.
BLAZE has partnered with Huawei, Google, IBM, USAID, Wezesha, and other partners to provide a mix of content, training, and employment opportunities to BLAZE subscribers who attend the summits.
Additionally, BLAZE has introduced a new platform, BLAZE LINK, an aggregator of e-learning resources, built to enable young people upgrade their skills through online courses and empower them to pursue success in their professions of interest.
