The government has announced that more than 99 percent of young people who received start-up grants under the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project have successfully established businesses.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 2, MSMEs Development Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni said the project has so far reached over 122,000 youth across all wards in the country through training, mentorship and financial support.
"To date a total of 122, 147 youth drawn across all the 1450 wards in Kenya are benefiting from the project, having been successfully selected, following the Entrepreneurial Aptitude Test (EAT), taken through Business Development support that includes class room training on business skills, mentorship and most of them have already accessed the first business start-up grant of Ksh25,000 (With Ksh3,000 retained as savings under the NSSF Haba Haba Scheme)," the statement read.
Mang'eni said the results from mentorship and training sessions indicate that the vast majority of beneficiaries have already put the funds to use by launching businesses.
"The outcome of the first mentorship nationwide handholding sessions and the second Business Development Support classroom training showed that over 99% of beneficiaries of the startup grants had already established their businesses, demonstrating an impressive entrepreneurial spirit among the Kenyan youth and the level of readiness that has been achieved through the classroom training and dedicated mentorship programme," the statement added.
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Mang'eni added that the project has created opportunities not only for beneficiaries but also for thousands of trainers and mentors engaged to support the programme nationwide.
"The NYOTA project also engaged 46 business development firms across the country, engaging over 3,600 trainers and over 5,500 mentors, mostly graduate-level youth, to train and support the youth entrepreneurs to launch and grow their businesses. With the successful completion of the second BDS training in April, the beneficiaries are now due for the second tranche of start-up capital disbursement and the second mentorship session," the statement further read.
Mang’eni acknowledged concerns raised by beneficiaries regarding delays in the release of the second tranche of funding, attributing the setback to budgetary challenges.
"The government acknowledges the increasing inquiries and the concerns from the beneficiaries on the disbursement of the second tranche and regrets the delay, which inadvertently is caused by the compression of the project and concentration of the attendant budgetary requirements in one fiscal year, necessitating budgetary enhancements," the statement noted.
Mang'eni added that efforts are underway to address the funding constraints and ensure the project remains on schedule.
"We are grateful to the National Treasury for actively working to resolve the fiscal space constraints and the flexibility to accommodate the budgetary adjustments to enable effective implementation of the project in keeping with the timelines of finalising this first phase by the end of the current financial year," the statement added.
The government has now set a deadline for the release of the second tranche of grants, assuring beneficiaries that all payments will be made simultaneously.
"To this extent, we wish to announce that the disbursement for the second tranche of business support start-up capital will happen by 30th June 2026, and all the beneficiaries will receive the grants at the same time, unlike the first tranche disbursement which was phased out in clusters," the statement concluded.
This comes weeks after the government addressed a viral notice circulating on social media claiming that the second tranche disbursement of the NYOTA business start-up capital has been suspended.
In a statement on Wednesday, May 20, Mang’eni assured beneficiaries that preparations for the nationwide release of funds were still ongoing and that the process would be completed soon.
The clarification came after a purported media release claimed that the second disbursement had been suspended due to economic and fiscal considerations.
Addressing the reports, Mang’eni stated that the government remained committed to the programme and asked the public to rely only on official communication channels.
"We acknowledge inquiries from NYOTA Project beneficiaries and the general public regarding the 2nd tranche of the NYOTA business start-up capital disbursement.
“The Government is working on the nationwide disbursement processes, which we expect to finalise soon,” she said.
Mang'eni noted that beneficiaries would be informed once the process is complete.
"Once complete, we will announce through the official communication channels and broadcast a live media address on all mainstream media stations," she added.
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