President William Ruto has issued an update on the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project, a government initiative supported by the World Bank which provides jobless Kenyan youths with up to Ksh50,000 in start-up capital.
The initiative will provide Ksh50,000 grants to each of the 70 young people selected from each of our country’s 1,450 wards, enabling them to launch business ventures.
In a statement on Friday, October 3, 2025, President Ruto announced that his administration has adopted a whole-of-government approach to delivering the NYOTA project, ensuring its smooth and successful implementation.
The Head of State convened a high-level meeting at State House, Nairobi, with Principal Secretaries to prepare for the nationwide roll-out of the project’s business support programme.
According to Ruto, all the Principal Secretaries will be in the 47 counties on Monday, October 6, to meet Governors, Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of County Assemblies (MCAs), and chiefs to sensitise the leaders and youth on the programme, and to align implementation at the grassroots.
“By involving leaders from the Executive, Legislature, and county governments, the process will be transparent and inclusive, ensuring that every young person has a fair chance to benefit. This Ksh5 billion programme will support 100,000 young people nationwide,” Ruto said.
“Through NYOTA, we are investing in our youth, unlocking opportunities, and driving enterprise and innovation across Kenya.”
The program is built on the success of the World Bank-supported Kenya Youth Employment and Opportunities Project (KYEOP), which, over the years helped thousands of young Kenyans launch businesses, gain skills, and create jobs.
NYOTA aims to empower 800,000 vulnerable youths aged 18 to 29 across all 47 counties by establishing 110,000 youth-led enterprises and certifying 20,000 artisans through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) initiative.
It also aims to skill and connect 90,000 youths to employment, while training 600,000 on financial literacy and access to government procurement opportunities.
Through Component 2, implemented by the State Department for MSME Development via the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), the project will provide entrepreneurship training, business development services, and phased start-up capital to 70 youth in every ward.
After classroom training, each youth will undergo two months of mentorship and incubation support, followed by staged seed money, with continued guidance from business development experts to foster their enterprise growth.
NYOTA issued an update on Wednesday, August 20, announcing that the selection process has been successfully completed and that the shortlisted youths have already received notification messages.
It further congratulated all applicants who had been selected for the program.
“Out of the 1 million applications received in Phase 1 for the Business Support Grant, only 110,000 were required,” the statement read in part.
Kenya’s broader challenge remains job quality, with only 10% of the workforce in formal employment.
While the overall unemployment rate is 5.4%, youth unemployment stands at 8.4%, with most young people trapped in low-paying, unstable informal sector jobs.
With the population projected to hit 63.9 million by 2030, including 22.3 million youths aged 15–34, the pressure to create sustainable employment opportunities continues to mount.
