President William Ruto has for the last one week moving around the country interacting with youths courtesy of an economic empowerment fund started by the government called Nyota Fund.
What really is this fund and who qualifies to benefit from it?
Top News dug out what Nyota Fund means and why President William Ruto’s administration started it.
The NYOTA Fund refers to the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Project.
The Vision
It is a government initiative supported by the World Bank,and designed to empower unemployed and vulnerable youth (ages 18-35) through skills training, digital literacy, business grants (e.g., KSh 50,000 seed capital), apprenticeships, and fostering a savings culture (linked to NSSF Haba Haba). It aims to boost youth employability, expand income-generating activities, and strengthen national employment systems, providing a crucial pathway for economic transformation in Kenya.
Upon taking into consideration challenges facing the youth like unemployment, the government began the Fund to enable youths create employment amongst themselves and to help them increase their skills for the job market.
The government, keen to create jobs and support entrepreneurship have developed the Fund to boost the fight against unemployment that has largely made young people vulnerable to crime and drug abuse.
Through the Fund, there’s also training and mentorship for entrepreneurship and financial discipline.
How to apply
To apply for the fund,an applicant is required to dial *254# to access the USSD menu, select the NYOTA option, and follow prompts to enter his or her national identification (ID) details and preferred program (Business Support, On-the-Job Experience, or RPL).
Alternatively, one can send the word “NYOTA” to 40270 to complete an Entrepreneurship Aptitude Test (EAT) if applying for business support, then attend the validation exercise at his or her constituency with their National ID.
On Monday, President Ruto presided over the disbursement of Ksh.258.4 million under the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) business support programme at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
The funds are set to benefit 10,337 young entrepreneurs from Nairobi, Kiambu, and Kajiado counties, each getting an initial business start-up capital of Ksh.25,000 to establish or expand their businesses.
Of this money, Ksh.22,000 will be credited directly to each beneficiary’s Pochi la Biashara accounts, while the remaining Ksh.3,000 will be deposited into their Haba na Haba Savings Account managed by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
Scaling up
President Ruto explained that his administration is focused on empowering the Kenyan youth through upscaling enrolment digital jobs.
He called on the youth to take advantage of the government’s commitment to uplifting their lives through initiatives that have direct impact on their lives.
“Young people of Kenya, you have an opportunity to work on our digital work ecosystem without having to know anybody. You can assign yourself and work through the internet,” he said.
“It is not just this space we are creating with NYOTA. We have opportunities on other platforms, housing, ICT, labour. We are not just giving you money, we are also going to train you, mentor you and walk with you.”
The programme, a five-year partnership between the government and the World Bank, is a flagship youth empowerment initiative valued at Ksh.5 billion.
