A ¬5 million (US$7.4 million) ICT and business college, chartered to train young entrepreneurs, is in the making in Nairobi's poor Eastland area.

The Informal Sector Business Institute (ISBI), a grassroots business training organization, will set up the ICT college, called Eastland College of Technology, in Nairobi's Eastland. ISBI has successfully applied for support from the European Union, which will be the main sponsor of the project, and the Educational Initiatives Trust, a local NGO, already has donated 10 acres of land toward the project, according to ISBI Director Andrew Olea.

"The Eastland College will consist of three centers, which will include the ICT Center, industrial maintenance and the Business Center," Olea said by e-mail. He added that ISBI also expects other donors, such as the Finish government, to support the project.

ISBI has a track record in striking partnerships for training initiatives. Olea said that ISBI has a partnership with Microsoft under the vendor's Unlimited Potential initiative that has helped the institute add computing skills to its program.

Microsoft had partnered with the International Youth Foundation (IYF), where ISBI is delivering training, Olea said. ISBI worked with Microsoft to open up three technology centers through which they provide business and IT training, he added.

Students pay an average commitment fee of ¬32 to ¬40 for programs that have between 50 and 150 hours.

Microsoft has also been helping to revise the curriculum of business courses to target micro-entrepreneurs.

"In some communities like the Eastland slums in Nairobi, ICT skills can mean the difference between subsistence and a business," said Michael Rawding, vice president of the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group. "The ICT and business training the Informal Sector Business Institute provides, based on Microsoft software and Unlimited Potential curriculum, is helping to bridge that gap for over 3,000 youth, micro-entrepreneurs and unemployed in Nairobi."

For other support, Olea said, they have had some contractors donate chairs, and Telcom Austria donated some computers. He added that Cetum Investments, a Kenyan organization, mentors students at ISBI.

"They are mentoring the students on how to use the computer for business," Olea said. The training is offered at seminars, which students can attend to get advice.

Because few traditional jobs are available to Eastland's residents, a large proportion of whom have not completed secondary education, they pursue all types of jobs to earn income and support their families, from building furniture to selling food, sundries or crafts, Olea said.

One of the ISBI graduates, Patrick Ngechu, said, "I am very ambitious because I aspire and dream to one day be a very competent accountant but at the moment I just want to be in school.'