The National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement initiative has been allocated an additional KSh3.38 billion after the Kenya government tripled the number of beneficiaries to 50,000 in changes contained in a new mini-budget, dramatically scaling up one of President William Ruto government’s most ambitious economic programmes.
The Treasury had allocated KSh1.44 billion to benefit 17,500 unemployed youths in the 12 months to June. With the fresh allocations, total financing for the World Bank-backed project rises to KSh4.8 billion for the current fiscal year.
President Ruto administration has rolled out the programme to benefit 820,000 youths aged 18 to 29 with business grants, skilling, and digital training on access to government opportunities. Nyota, which has a budget of KSh33 billion, will run until December 2028.
Out of the KSh33 billion budget, the multilateral lender is funding KSh29.5 billion, including a loan component of KSh25.8 billion.
First disbursements already underway
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni said the programme has already hit the ground running, with billions disbursed to young entrepreneurs across the country.
“So far, we’ve done the first instalment of the startup capital, and we have disbursed more than KSh3 billion to them. From the 120,000 entrepreneurs that we are supporting, we are likely to see probably half of them or even quite a few of them becoming the next generation of manufacturers,” she said.
To boost the success rate for enterprises funded under Nyota, PS Mang’eni said beneficiaries would be mentored for about two months after funding — a structured support model officials believe sets the programme apart from previous grant schemes.
Grants, digital training and skilling
Apart from issuing business grants to the 120,000 youths, the Nyota programme will also provide digital training to 600,000 youths on how to access government opportunities, undertaken by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises State Department.
The programme also plans to equip 90,000 youth with in-demand skills to boost their prospects for employment. It also targets to train and issue certificates to some 20,000 youths.
The 120,000 beneficiaries of the business capital and expansion grants will receive KSh6 billion, but KSh720 million will automatically go to National Social Security Fund savings. This means the actual amount the state expects to be injected into their businesses is KSh5.28 billion.
Government targets high survival rate for funded businesses
PS Mang’eni said the government estimates that between 50% and 80% of these investments will sail through challenges in the business environment to form stable enterprises that can create jobs.
“From the 120,000 entrepreneurs that we are supporting, we are likely to see probably half of them or even quite a few of them becoming the next generation of manufacturers,” the PS added.
