The Second Summit Of Blaze Byob Season 2 Lights Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium

Hundreds of participants took part in the second regional summit of Blaze BYOB season two held on 16th September at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru County.

Eight winners emerged from this summit. This was after several participants were intensely pre-screened in the 3-day creation camps and given a chance to pitch their business ideas to a team of qualified judges and mentors.

The winners got funding of Ksh100, 000 in each category to support their business ideas and a chance to be part of the BYOB TV Series 2 set to air later in the year. They included Primerose Oyiera (Fashion) – 100,000/=, Oeba Willie (Music) – 100,000/=, Miriam Wanjiru Mwangi (Retail and Manufacturing) – 100,000/=, Carribean Crew (Creative Arts) – 100,000/=, Michael Mibey Kosgei (Technology) – 100,000/=, Gulam Nabi Akram (Photography) as well as Vincent Korir and Edwin Kiprotich (Agriculture) - 50,000/= each.

During the summit, the youth, who were mostly students, received training and guidance in their areas of interests from selected mentors and also got inspiration from a team of mentors who have exceled in various fields.

Some of the mentors who were present at the Nakuru summit include; Nyashinski – Musician and Music composer, Jibril Blessing-Producer and videographer, Njugush- Comedian and actor, Abel Mutua- content developer, Wycliffe Waweru- entrepreneur and bicycle manufacturer, Caleb Karuga, an Agribusiness entrepreneur as well as Nasreen Dhanji, Catherine Gitau and Confrey Alianji  - for Technology.

The Nakuru summit was based on three major pillars among them; to mentor and train youth by giving them the tools required to be successful at BYOB creation camps. Secondly, to inspire the youth to follow their passion by introducing them to relatable mentors who talked about their personal journeys and thirdly, BLAZE CSR Friday; a session aimed at teaching the youth to give back to the society.

Nakuru Boys high school and Milimani Primary that run on an integrated program having visually impaired students were the two schools from the region that benefited from the Blaze CSR Friday. They each got a 1-hour mentorship session from a team of Kenya’s most successful young entrepreneurs and donations of learning equipment worth Ksh250, 000 each as part of CSR Friday from Safaricom Foundation and Blaze.

With the theme ‘Greatness Requires Internal Toughness’ (G.R.I.T), the youth were  empowered to possess GRIT and showcase what it means; fall,  get up again and keep pushing through.

Entertainment in the Nakuru summit was top notch with Nyashinski, Khaligraph Jones and King Kaka thrilling the crowd with electrifying performances. Radio presenter Mwalimu Racheal and Musician Timmy T Dat mceed the high pitched event.

BLAZE is a sub-brand of Safaricom and was created to give the youth aged 26 years and below products, services and benefits tailored specifically to meet their everyday needs.

A first of its kind platform in Kenya, East and Central Africa, BLAZE was founded on what Kenyan youth say is most important to them: freedom, empowerment and success.