BrighterMonday Kenya, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation through the Gen-Kazi Program under the EmpowerHer Initiative, on Wednesday launched the Mombasa Career Clinic & Entrepreneurship Summit, a county-driven effort aimed at improving employability and business skills among young women aged 18 to 35.
The initiative places strong emphasis on opportunities within the blue economy and the Coast region’s tourism sector.
The programme comes at a critical time for Mombasa, which faces one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the country at 44%, according to recent labour market assessments. Organizers say the initiative is designed to offer targeted and sustainable support for women who remain disproportionately excluded from formal employment and entrepreneurship.
Speaking during the launch, Geraldine Chepchirchir, Senior Specialist, Strategy at BrighterMonday Kenya, highlighted the essential role women play in the Coast’s hospitality and tourism sectors.
“Women remain the backbone of the region’s hospitality and tourism sector, yet they continue to face barriers to dignified work, limited skills, gaps in mentorship, safety concerns, and fewer leadership opportunities. This EmpowerHer Initiative is our commitment to transforming the workforce in the region through equipping women in Mombasa with employability and business skills, digital literacy, and county-led mentorship so they can fully participate in the tourism sector,” she said.
The initiative aims to reach 217,000 young women across all 47 counties over the next 18 months, offering practical tools to navigate Kenya’s changing labour market.
During the event, Mahmoud Noor, Founder of Swahilipot Hub, urged youth to embrace both practical skills and strong personal values if they are to succeed in the workplace or in entrepreneurship.
He said the Career Clinic guides youth in two key areas: CV writing and job preparedness, and pathways for those pursuing entrepreneurship. However, he stressed that employability is not only about securing work, but also about demonstrating trustworthiness.
Noor noted that employers frequently complain about the difficulty of finding reliable individuals who can handle responsibilities and manage tasks “as if the owner were present.” He underscored the importance of ethics and fairness, saying young people must uphold integrity in all areas—from how they carry out assignments to how they run businesses.
He added that ethical behaviour begins at home, with children learning values through the example set by parents. Practices such as cheating, bribery, or buying exam papers, he warned, undermine a generation’s moral foundation. “If we don’t model honesty ourselves, we are creating a country without ethics, and that will always lead to problems,” he said.
Noor emphasized that strong institutions and successful businesses rely on “foundations of integrity, truth, and fairness toward all people.”
Through the Gen-Kazi Program, BrighterMonday Kenya continues to upskill and reskill youth aged 18–35, with an intentional focus on underserved groups, 70% women, 70% non-urban youth, and 10% persons with disabilities.