Youth to Receive Ksh6,000 Monthly Stipends As Cabinet Approves NYOTA Project

The Cabinet on Tuesday, July 29, approved the rollout of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Project.

According to a Cabinet Dispatch, the project, which is cofunded by the government and the World Bank, targets over 820,000 vulnerable and unemployed youth, including persons with disabilities.

“The program aims to enhance employability, skills recognition, and access to decent work, and is a key pillar of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda,” read the dispatch in part.

NYOTA is structured into four components, including paid on-the-job training, entrepreneurship support, and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) certification.

The top government decision-making organ noted that an ongoing call for the On-the-Job program targets 90,000 youth with monthly stipends of Ksh6,000.

The monthly stipends will be deposited into Haba Haba savings accounts.

“The ongoing call for the On-the-Job Experience programme targets 90,000 youth for three- to six-month paid placements with employers, with monthly stipends of KSh6,000 deposited into Haba Haba savings accounts,” the Cabinet stated.

Applications for the program opened on July 11, 2025, and are scheduled to close on August 15, 2025.

The approval of the NYOTA project comes just days after MSMEs Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni attributed the rollout delays to budget constraints.

Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives on Thursday, July 11, PS Mang’eni disclosed that the Department has only secured Ksh1.2 billion, but needs an additional Ksh7.6 billion to fully implement the program.