Kenya is short of technicians, not graduates

Kenya produces tens of thousands of graduates every year. Yet builders cannot find plumbers, solar firms cannot find installers and garages cannot find technicians who understand modern vehicles. The shortage is real, but it is not where most people look.

The gap sits in the middle of the qualification ladder. It is the skilled technician, the site supervisor and the diagnostics specialist who are hardest to hire. When a skill is scarce, its price rises. In many trades, the day rate for a certified, reliable technician has risen sharply in recent years.

• Solar installers, now licensed by EPRA

• Plumbers and building services technicians

• Site supervisors who can read drawings and check quality

• Automotive technicians with diagnostic and EV skills

• Operations staff for digital and business services

Employers feel it too. Global surveys of employers consistently rank skills gaps as the single biggest barrier to transforming their businesses. In Kenya, the problem is often not a lack of applicants. It is a lack of evidence that applicants can do the job.

"Employers do not lack applicants. They lack proof. Our job is to produce technicians who arrive with it."

This is good news for young people willing to learn a trade properly. A skilled technician can recover the cost of their training within months of steady work. The condition is that their training leads to real competence and real work, early.

That is the gap IDEA is built to fill. We chose our launch courses using four tests: evidenced demand, teachable skill, work that can be assessed, and a credible path to income. Every course that passed all four is on our list.