Nairobi City, at dusk: The first edition of the Ignite Youth Night Market will be at the Comesa grounds next to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) for three nights beginning March 25. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The initiative targets youth entrepreneurs as county seeks to cut joblessness among young people.
Nairobi is set to stage its first late night open-air market modelled on those in Malaysia, London and Bangkok.
The City Hall-backed market will operate between 6 pm and midnight and will be organised every month by a local non-governmental organisation, The Youth Agenda, at open public space in the city centre and estates.
Cosmetics, shoes, clothes, food and drinks, sports and fitness products, electronics, art, books, kitchenware, decor, toys and baby products are some of the goods that will be on sale at the market.
“This concept seeks to offer busy working class a decent platform to shop as well as offer youthful entrepreneurs a ready market,” said Youth Agenda CEO Susan Mwongera adding that the concept will trigger additional jobs in the economy.
The first edition of the Ignite Youth Night Market will be at the Comesa grounds next to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) for three nights beginning March 25, coinciding with the Easter weekend. The maiden edition of the market will, however start earlier (at 4pm) and will see the roads surrounding KICC – such as Kaunda Street and City Hall Way closed.
The market is expected to attract more than 300 youth entrepreneurs.
Interested persons, who should be below 35 years, should fill an online form on The Youth Agenda’s website to book space, Ms Mwongera said.
Successful applications will be required to pay between Sh5,000 and Sh10,000 for market stalls for the three days.
She explained that the night time market is modelled around the shopping patterns of more advanced economies like Malaysia, London and Bangkok, adding that the increasingly busy schedules of most families in Nairobi makes the concept applicable locally.
The NGO has inked a deal with Nairobi County to stage the markets alongside the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender which will offer National Youth Service personnel to reinforce security.
The organisation will also hold night time markets in satellite estates around Nairobi to “take goods to the doorsteps of customers.”
Administrators of Kenya’s capital city has for long envisaged a 24-hour economy but this has failed to take root with only a few branches of large supermarkets like Tuskys and Nakumatt operating day and night.
Youthful population
City Hall is betting on the idea to entrench a new shopping culture among city residents on the back of increased street lighting and improved security through another initiative it has undertaken with Kenya Power.
“The initiative is in line with our County Strategic Plan that is geared towards promoting a 24 hour economy so as to improve our socio-economic lives in the county,” said Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero.
The Youth Agenda official said that open- air markets will serve as powerful tools to reap the demographic dividend from the majority youthful population.
“The initiative aims at providing a solution to the challenge of youth employment through provision of readily accessible markets for their businesses.”
A World Bank report released last week puts unemployment among Kenya’s youth at 17.3 per cent compared to six per cent for both Uganda and Tanzania, making Nairobi’s joblessness levels the highest in the region.
The government’s quest to curb its growing wage bill and the return of cost-cutting in the corporate sector has dented the ability of the economy to create employment.
This makes entrepreneurship as viable alternative route for wealth creation and growth among youth. Official data shows that the economy created 106,300 new formal jobs in 2014 down from 134,300 in 2013 or a 20.8 per cent drop.
