Safaricom Hook recently turned one, and in that short year, it has already stood out in terms of transforming the lives of Kenyan youth in career development, culture, and the use of technology for career or to help monetize content creation. The platform was launched with exactly this in mind: to address the youth’s rapidly changing needs in Kenya and empower them to leap to the next step in an equally rapidly changing world. Through the platform, users who are aged between 18 and 24 are well-groomed with skills to grab opportunities when they come along.
To make this mandate a success, Safaricom Hook is making use of powerful collaborations like Brighter Monday, a well-known jobs portal that helps the youth in career building by guiding them on how to sharpen their professional profiles and CVs. Through the Brighter Monday and Safaricom Hook partnership, youth are exposed to great resources that they would otherwise nit have accessed on their own or on less professional platforms, like tailored CV-building tools and career guidance. The job market is very competitive, and this support is crucial for young learners and job seekers to navigate from a point of knowledge and confidence.
Safaricom Hook has also teamed up with PowerLearn, a program that empowers youth in Africa with technology scholarships. As we speak, PowerLearn has just concluded a recruitment exercise to empower 255 young Kenyans with technology courses that will improve employability as tech professionals, or prepare the ground for those who want to take up tech entrepreneurship paths. In an increasingly digital world, this initiative is crucial in ensuring that young people have the necessary skills.
Another partner that my colleagues and I had the privilege of visiting is Trace East Africa, which runs Trace Academia, which offers free online courses tailored for the youth. This goes perfectly well with Safaricom Hook in promoting non-conventional careers since the app, which you can check out here, has diverse subjects, from digital marketing to plumbing to software development. I was pleasantly surprised to see the variety of courses on Trace Academia since I would have assumed that learners only get entertainment-related training.
Culture and entertainment are synonymous with the youth, and therefore with Safaricom Hook, we collaborate with outlets like Artfit and Baze Radio, where young creatives showcase their talents and connect with audiences. Artfit whom I got to interact with at Safaricom Hook’s stand at #WalkerTown is a vibrant platform for promoting the arts through ultra-modern creative outfits among other merchandise. Baze Radio, on the other hand, is a vibrant hub for all things Kenyan entertainment featuring local music, interviews and talks that resonate with our youth.
Financial literacy is another very important area where SafaricomHook aims to empower youth. It would be pointless to enable them to do courses and get jobs or businesses without equipping them with the knowledge of how to manage their finances. Absa Bank is part of Safaricom Hook Circles, an initiative that started in Chuka University, where Safaricom Hook goes on ground alongside partners to meet with the youth and train them on different things including mental health.
Perhaps my favorite partner for Safariocom Hook is Wowzi, simply because I have personally used it to monetize my content since it was new. Wowzi is a content monetization platform that helps users make money from their social media platforms. Over the years, I have mostly monetized X and Facebook. All one has to do is register their social media properties, including a rate card, do a good job at content and the income will come.
There are so many other collaborations that Safaricom Hook has forged and continues to forge and in the end, the youth are getting a go-to place for career development, income generation opportunities, networking opportunities among peers, and training in the fields where their creativity takes them. In the end, Safaricom Hook which is accessible by dialing *555# is a holistic platform that nurtures talent and creativity for the target audience which is 18 to 24 years. As it looks to the future, SafaricomHook remains committed to its mission of empowering the next generation of leaders and innovators in Kenya.