President William Ruto on Friday travelled to Nakuru to oversee the release of start-up funds to young entrepreneurs under the government’s NYOTA Project, with beneficiaries drawn from the wider South Rift region.
The exercise, taking place at the ASK Showground in Nakuru, has attracted thousands of youths from Nakuru, Narok, Kericho, Bomet and Baringo counties who qualified for the programme after undergoing business training. The beneficiaries are set to receive seed capital aimed at helping them establish or expand small businesses.
The Nakuru event forms part of Phase Two of a nationwide rollout that is scheduled to run for a week. Under this phase, about 50,000 youths across 27 counties are expected to benefit from financial support and inclusion services designed to promote enterprise development.
A day earlier, the President presided over a similar disbursement in Eldoret targeting the North Rift region. During that event, roughly Sh250 million was distributed to 9,500 youths from Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nandi, Trans Nzoia, Turkana and West Pokot counties.
Under the programme, each beneficiary receives Sh22,000 credited to their NYOTA Pochi la Biashara wallet to support business start-up activities. An additional Sh3,000 is deposited into an NSSF Haba na Haba savings account to encourage long-term financial security.
The NYOTA Project, implemented by the State Department for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development, targets vulnerable youth in all 1,450 wards nationwide, with at least 70 beneficiaries selected per ward. Participation in the programme is conditional on completion of a mandatory three-day entrepreneurship training course.
