A record 804,125 young Kenyans are currently undergo physical verification across all 290 constituencies starting today (Friday, October 24, 2025), as the government begins the final stage of selecting 100,000 youth entrepreneurs under the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project.
The World Bank–funded initiative aims to transform livelihoods for youths aged 18 to 29 and up to 35 for those with disabilities across all 1,450 wards in Kenya. It targets youth with up to Form Four education, who are currently unemployed or underemployed, and not previous beneficiaries of the Kenya Youth Employment and Opportunities Project (KYEOP).
The government has urged all youth preselected for the KSh50,000 NYOTA grant to complete the mandatory Entrepreneurship Aptitude Test (EAT).
The NYOTA project has three major goals:
- Improving employability,
- Expanding employment and business opportunities, and
- Encouraging savings among youth.
Under the Business Support Component, successful applicants will receive KSh50,000 each in start-up capital to launch small businesses after undergoing entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and financial literacy sessions. Each ward is expected to produce about 70 youth entrepreneurs, creating a nationwide network of 100,000 new businesses.
The NYOTA programme, a flagship initiative under President William Ruto’s administration, has been hailed as one of Kenya’s most inclusive job creation efforts in recent years. It is designed not just to hand out cash, but to build capacity and create sustainable youth-led enterprises in every corner of the country.
By combining grants, mentorship, on-job experience, and certification of informal skills, NYOTA seeks to bridge Kenya’s youth unemployment gap while tapping into local innovation and enterprise.
