A senior Kenyan official has appealed to thousands of young people to attend training sessions for a World Bank-backed entrepreneurship programme, warning that millions of shillings in startup grants risk going unclaimed because selected beneficiaries are failing to show up.
Susan Mang’eni, Principal Secretary for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, told a gathering at Machakos Township Primary School on Sunday that some youth who successfully applied for the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) scheme have simply vanished. Each approved participant stands to receive Sh50,000 in seed capital after completing the course.
“We targeted at least seventy young people per ward, with an oversubscription buffer of 120 percent,” Mang’eni said. “Every absent beneficiary means Sh50,000 that stays in government coffers instead of launching a business.”
She ordered chiefs and assistant chiefs to go door to door to track down the missing trainees and extended the Machakos Town session until Tuesday to give latecomers a final chance. Local MP Caleb Mule and county officials have also been roped in to help.
Launched by President William Ruto earlier this year, NYOTA aims to reach more than 820,000 unemployed youth nationwide, plus 10,000 refugees in Kakuma and Dadaab camps. The programme has already rolled out across twenty-five counties, covering 151 constituencies and 754 wards.
Beyond the cash grant, participants undergo four months of business incubation and are promised easier licensing, mentoring and access to further financing. Mang’eni stressed that the goal is to create a supportive ecosystem in every ward rather than simply distribute money.
Youth unemployment remains one of Kenya’s most pressing challenges, officially hovering above 35 percent for those aged eighteen to thirty-four. Critics have welcomed the funding injection but question whether bureaucratic hurdles and poor mobilisation will prevent the scheme from reaching those who need it most.
As the Machakos classrooms stayed half-empty this weekend, the episode served as a stark reminder that even well-funded initiatives can stumble at the last hurdle if the intended beneficiaries cannot be found or persuaded to walk through the door.
