17 projects from the six coastal counties will be getting funding to the tune of €669,879.55, which is equivalent to sh.85,427,176.79, through Go Blue’s Tourism Heritage Culture project.
Under the THC project, 17 projects will receive funding from European Union through Camões.
Speaking during the onboarding event of the THC grantees, project lead Paula Vilela de Oliveira said there were 94 applications for the grant.
“Out of the 94 applications, 17 were selected and six are in the reserve list just in case those who were selected dropped out of the project. 21 were not selected and 50 were not evaluated because they did not meet all requirements,” said Paula.
Five of the selected projects are from Kwale county, five from Kilifi, three from Tana River, two from Mombasa, and one each from Taita Taveta and Lamu Counties.
“70 percent of the selected projects were not for profit, 18 percent public, and 12 percent for profit,” she said.
Not-for-profit projects received 85 percent of the funds at €570,174.55 (sh.72,712,179.44). Public projects got nine percent of the total budget with €59,205 (sh.7,550,187.19) while for-profits projects will get six percent which translates to €40,500 (sh.5,164,810.09).
Speaking during the onboarding event, Ambassador Ana Filomena Rocha indicated the importance of the THC project to young people and women.
“This project has an added value of investing in people. People are really the wealth of a country,” said Amb. Rocha.
Go Blue Advisor, Ali Mwanzei said that tourism and cultural heritage is significant as it creates opportunities for young people to be trained and equipped with entrepreneurship skills.
“Through the Ubuntu Leadership Academy, 150 youth received training in multiple tourism and hospitality social entrepreneurship skills to find a job and/or create their own business,” said Mwanzei.
During the event, project lead, Paula Vilela de Oliveira, indicated that “the TCH component seeks to mentor and train young people, increase the capacity of JKP, and conduct a value chains analysis study to facilitate the development of a tourism and cultural heritage blueprint.”
Also at the event was Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani CEO Emmanuel Nzai.
“This is a very good example of the Go Blue project in partnership with the six coastal counties and the Kenya Government on how it goes in deeper to unlock the value of the Tourism, Heritage and Culture as part of the Blue Economy,” said JKP CEO Emmanuel Nzai.
THC project managed and implemented by Portugal falls under Go Blue Growth which is component one of the Go Blue project under GIZ, AICS, and Camões, the other components are Go Blue Land-Sea planning under UN-Habitat and UNEP and Go Blue Security under Expertise France.
