A Kenya where every creative talent has the opportunity, skills, and support to build a thriving, globally competitive enterprise.
Empower Msanii
From talent to enterprise.
Empowering Kenya's next generation of creative entrepreneurs through discovery, hubs, skills, mentorship, finance, showcasing, and market access.
Program snapshot
A national pipeline for creative enterprise.
Build a national ecosystem that discovers, trains, equips, mentors, finances, and connects Kenyan creatives, turning talent into enterprise.
Establish Kenya as East Africa's leading hub for creative enterprise by 2031.
50,000 creatives, 7 Creative Hubs, all 47 counties, over five years.
Why Empower Msanii?
Kenya has the talent. The missing piece is infrastructure.
Kenya's creative talent already commands attention across Africa and the diaspora, but much of the value is captured outside the country or not captured at all. Most creatives still operate informally without business skills, equipment, mentorship, financing, or reliable access to markets.
The creative economy can absorb large numbers of young people at relatively low capital cost per job while strengthening the digital economy, preserving culture, driving innovation, and expanding Kenya's global competitiveness.
Window of opportunity
Youth employment, digital growth, and the creator economy are converging now.
Empower Msanii positions CYEF and its partners to help Kenya move ahead as a regional creative-economy hub.
What we do
Seven connected pillars that convert craft into income.
Discover Msanii
Identify high-potential creative talent nationwide, with deliberate reach into underserved counties.
Equip Msanii
Provide affordable access to professional studios and production equipment through Creative Hubs.
Fund Msanii
Mobilise grants, guarantees, and blended capital to unlock financing for creative enterprises.
Showcase Msanii
Put Kenyan creative talent in front of audiences, investors, and media nationally and globally.
Educate Msanii
Build technical, business, financial, and digital skills that convert craft into income.
Mentor Msanii
Connect emerging creatives with established industry and business leaders for sustained guidance.
Connect Msanii
Link creative enterprises to brands, buyers, and regional and international markets.
Expected impact
Five-year targets designed for national reach.
Inclusive by design
The campaign includes deliberate participation pathways for women, persons with disabilities, underserved counties, and marginalised communities.
Partnership opportunities
Where government, corporate, and development partners can plug in.
Financial support
Core, hub, or component-specific funding, including capitalisation of the Creative Enterprise Fund.
Equipment & technology
In-kind production equipment, digital platforms, AI tools, and connectivity for Creative Hubs.
Training & mentorship
Masterclasses, bootcamps, and structured mentor placements from corporate and industry teams.
Scholarships
Sponsored training cohorts, certifications, and hub memberships for underserved creatives.
Market access
Brand partnerships, distribution agreements, and inclusion in marketing and design briefs.
Hubs & innovation
Co-funding of Regional Creative Hubs and joint innovation or AI-in-creativity programmes.
Joint campaigns
Co-branded national awareness and showcase campaigns that amplify shared impact.
Why partner with CYEF?
Trusted community access with authentic creative leadership.
National reach
Direct, trusted access to young creatives across all 47 counties, not only Nairobi.
Mobilization power
Proven ability to mobilise communities and sustain public visibility at national scale.
Convening credibility
Trusted relationships spanning government, media, and the private sector.
Delivery track record
Grassroots experience in youth mentorship and creative-community engagement, now scaling into a national programme.
Authentic leadership
Led by a practitioner from within the creative community it serves, strengthening credibility and uptake.
Join us
Help build Kenya's creative economy.
Empower Msanii invites government, corporate, and development partners to unlock creative talent, strengthen the digital and creative economy, and build sustainable livelihoods for the next generation.