This archive report was first published on 16 September 2019.
On Saturday, Safaricom's BLAZE hosted the first Be Your Own Boss (BYOB) Summit in the Rift Region at The University of Kabianga in Kericho County. The event saw over 2,500 youth engage and learn from BLAZE partners and mentors.
Since the start of the summits, over 13,000 youth have been engaged in various regions, including Kakamega, Kisii, Kisumu, Mariakani, Kilifi, and Mombasa.
According to Michael Joseph, Safaricom CEO, the turnout has been great, and the e-sports tournament has been an exciting addition to the summits. He believes that the event has identified yet another passion point for Kenyan youth that is unconventional and has great potential.
The summit will culminate in the BLAZE E-Sports Tournament Regional Finals and a creation camp where the top 3 entrepreneurs in 8 categories will win KES 50,000, KES 30,000, and KES 20,000 respectively, totaling to KES 800,000.
BLAZE 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.
Attendees interacted with local mentors who are industry experts through interest-specific pods where they went through workshops and learned from the mentor's experience.
The Kericho Edition featured mentors such as Caleb Karuga (Agripreneur), Catherine Kamau (Actress), Brian Diang'a (Professional gamer), and Naiboi (Musician), among others.
BLAZE has partnered with Google, IBM, and Wezesha to provide a mix of content, training, and employment opportunities to BLAZE subscribers who attend the summits.
