Industry-Led Apprenticeships Deliver Strong Returns for Businesses, Tackle Youth Unemployment – Study

​By Greenspan Dulo 

NAIROBI, July 21, 2026 – A new study has found that industry-led apprenticeship programmes are delivering significant returns for businesses while providing a practical solution to Kenya’s youth unemployment challenge.

The Return on Investment (ROI) Study on the PropelA Dual Apprenticeship Programme, released by Swisscontact, shows participating companies achieve an average 30 percent Return on Training Investment (ROTI), generate about KSh2 million in net value per company, and recover their investment within three years.

Conducted independently by Orange & Teal, the study found that 87 percent of the value created comes from apprentice productivity, demonstrating that investing in skills directly boosts business performance and competitiveness.

The findings were unveiled during the PropelA Business Impact & Investment Insights Breakfast in Nairobi, attended by government officials, private sector leaders, development partners, and industry stakeholders.

Swisscontact Kenya Country Director Sharon Mosin said the findings redefine skills development as an economic investment rather than a social intervention.

“Skills are economic infrastructure. When businesses invest in skills, they are investing in their own future,” she said.

The study comes as Kenya grapples with a growing disconnect between employers struggling to find industry-ready workers and thousands of young people unable to secure decent jobs.

Since its launch, the PropelA programme has partnered with more than 70 companies, trained over 400 young people, and achieved an employment rate exceeding 80 percent through a dual apprenticeship model combining 75 percent workplace training with 25 percent classroom learning.

Swisscontact says the findings demonstrate that industry-led apprenticeships can strengthen SME productivity, improve youth employment, and support the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) by building a skilled workforce to drive industrialisation and inclusive economic growth.


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