The Ministry of Cooperatives and MSMEs has announced the disbursement schedule for the NYOTA Project Business Start-Up Capital across nine counties.
In an update on Tuesday, February 3, MSMEs Development Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni said the rollout will begin on Thursday, February 5, with Kilifi County hosting beneficiaries from Kilifi, Lamu, and Tana River counties.
The exercise will then move to Mombasa County on Friday, February 6, covering beneficiaries drawn from Mombasa, Kwale, and Taita Taveta counties.
Disbursements will resume on Wednesday, February 11, in Mandera County, targeting beneficiaries within the county, before proceeding the same day to Wajir County for local beneficiaries.
The final phase is scheduled for Thursday, February 12, in Garissa County, where beneficiaries from Garissa will receive their start-up capital.
“The disbursement schedule for the first tranche of the Nyota Project Start-Up capital grant is now complete for the entire Nation,” Mang’eni announced.
This comes days after the government released Ksh220 million in business start-up capital to thousands of young entrepreneurs in Siaya, Kisumu, and Homa Bay counties.
In a statement on Monday, February 2, President William Ruto said the funds were handed over during an event held in Kisumu, where beneficiaries from the three counties gathered to receive the support.
“Presided over the disbursement of Ksh220 million NYOTA business start-up capital to 8,820 beneficiaries from Siaya, Kisumu, and Homa Bay counties at Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium, Kisumu County,” he said.
Ruto argued that Kenya’s youth are no longer driven by ethnic calculations or short-term political mobilisation, noting that their expectations from leadership have changed.
“Kenya’s young people have outgrown the tired mathematics of tribe and the small thinking of yesterday’s politics. They refuse to be reduced to numbers on a ballot sheet; activated during campaigns and abandoned thereafter,” he added.
Ruto further described young Kenyans as an active and ambitious generation that is eager to take up responsibility.
“They are a generation in motion- impatient for opportunity, ready for responsibility, determined to build. That is why we have rolled out a deliberate, nationwide, and structured agenda to unlock opportunity for young people,” he further said.
Ruto also urged young people across the country to take advantage of the programmes currently being implemented, saying these initiatives are meant to open both local and international pathways for employment and enterprise.
“We are calling on the youth of Kenya to step forward and claim the openings being created through programmes such as NYOTA, the expansion of digital jobs, affordable housing projects, and bilateral labour agreements that are opening doors beyond our borders,” he concluded.
