The government is moving to scale up the NYOTA empowerment project to reach more than two million young people nationwide, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has said, signalling a major expansion of one of Kenya’s flagship youth programs.
Speaking on the progress of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) initiative, Prof. Kindiki said the program has already recorded strong uptake since its rollout, with 820,000 youth benefiting in the initial phase.
“The government is looking at possibilities of injecting more resources into this program to ensure we expand it and reach more beneficiaries and impact the lives of many young people. Currently we are at 820,000 beneficiaries but we will double this number and even reach 2 million youth in the long run,” Kindiki said.
On Tuesday, the Deputy President hosted Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and chief executives of agencies involved in the program at his Official Residence in Karen. The meeting reviewed the progress of the rollout and laid the groundwork for the next phase of expansion.
“We are going to have more young people on board the business support program, on the job experience and recognition of prior learning,” he added.
Government data shows that more than 121,000 young people have already benefited from the Business Grant component of NYOTA. Each beneficiary is set to receive Sh50,000 to help grow their enterprises and strengthen micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
“We are at the tail end of operationalizing component one which is the Business Grant allocated between 5 and 6 billion shillings. We have seen a lot of impact in supporting micro, small medium businesses and startups,” DP Kindiki noted.
The Deputy President said other key components of the program; including On-the-Job Training, Skills Development, Recognition of Prior Learning and Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO), are also undergoing adjustments to align with the administration’s broader development agenda, as directed by President William Ruto.
“We have been able to make significant savings, removed some of the non-essential budget lines, deleted others and reorganized the components. The savings will be deployed to increase the number of beneficiaries,” Prof. Kindiki said.
He added that the government will continue engaging development partners to ensure the NYOTA project fully supports the administration’s priorities, as it seeks to widen opportunities for young Kenyans through skills training, business support and access to government opportunities.
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