President William Ruto on Friday met senior government officials overseeing the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) programme as preparations gather pace for the release of the second tranche of youth business grants later this month.
The meeting at State House, Nairobi, brought together Cabinet Secretary for Co-operatives and MSMEs Wycliffe Oparanya and Principal Secretaries Paul Ronoh (Agriculture), Susan Mang'eni (MSMEs Development) and Patrick Kilemi (Cooperative).
Although details of the discussions were not immediately disclosed, the meeting comes days after the government confirmed that the second tranche of NYOTA business support grants will be disbursed by June 30.
The funds are expected to benefit more than 122,000 youth entrepreneurs drawn from all 1,450 wards across the country under the World Bank-supported programme.
According to the Ministry of Co-operatives and MSMEs Development, all eligible beneficiaries will receive the grants simultaneously in a nationwide payout.
The government recently assured beneficiaries that delays in the release of the funds had been caused by budgetary constraints arising from adjustments made to the programme's implementation framework.
Speaking earlier this week, MSMEs Development Principal Secretary Susan Mang'eni said the disbursement would proceed by June 30 following consultations involving the government, the National Treasury and development partners. She said all beneficiaries would receive the funds at the same time rather than through a phased rollout.
The NYOTA project is one of the government's flagship youth empowerment initiatives aimed at supporting vulnerable and marginalised young people through entrepreneurship training, mentorship, apprenticeships and business start-up capital.
The programme attracted nearly two million applicants nationwide, prompting the government to redesign the initial phased rollout and instead implement a one-off national intake to accommodate the overwhelming demand.
So far, 122,147 young people have been selected for the programme after undergoing entrepreneurial aptitude assessments and business development training. Most have already received the first tranche of KSh25,000, with part of the funds channelled into savings under the NSSF Haba Haba scheme.
Government data shows that more than 99 per cent of beneficiaries who received the initial grants have already established businesses following mentorship and entrepreneurship training.
Friday's State House meeting signals the government's determination to ensure the programme remains on course as thousands of beneficiaries await the release of the second tranche before the end of the month.
The NYOTA programme forms part of a broader strategy by the Kenya Kwanza administration to tackle youth unemployment by expanding access to enterprise financing, skills development and business support services.
