By Issa Hussein - Reporter
Kenya, 10 July 2026 - More than 122,000 young entrepreneurs across the country have received a fresh financial boost after the government disbursed KSh 3.06 billion under the second tranche of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Business Support Programme.
Each beneficiary received a KSh 25,000 start-up grant aimed at helping expand existing businesses and create employment opportunities.
Speaking during the disbursement in Nairobi on Friday, President William Ruto said the NYOTA programme is changing the lives of young Kenyans by shifting them from job seekers to job creators through access to capital, business development training, mentorship and financial inclusion.
He urged the beneficiaries to invest the funds prudently, grow their enterprises and create jobs within their communities.
"The programme is empowering young people to establish, grow and sustain businesses while creating employment opportunities across the country," President Ruto said.
To ensure youth-owned enterprises continue to grow beyond the initial grants, the President directed the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, the Women Enterprise Fund and Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE) to develop innovative financing products and business support programmes that will provide affordable credit and technical assistance to young entrepreneurs.
He said the interventions would enable businesses supported under NYOTA to scale up and become sustainable.
The President also challenged county governments to create a more favourable business environment by reducing the cost of doing business for young entrepreneurs.
He urged counties to exempt youth-owned enterprises from excessive licensing fees and business levies, saying such measures would enable start-ups to expand, create more jobs and contribute to local economic growth.
President Ruto reaffirmed that youth empowerment remains a key pillar of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), adding that the government will continue investing in entrepreneurship, skills development, access to finance and market opportunities.
The NYOTA programme is one of the government's flagship youth empowerment initiatives designed to tackle unemployment by supporting young people to establish and expand businesses through grants, training, mentorship and improved access to financial services.
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