President William Ruto on Thursday launched the KSh147.5 million NYOTA Project Start-Up Capital disbursement at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos town, marking a major milestone in the government’s push for digitally delivered, transparent and corruption-free youth empowerment programmes.
The initiative will benefit 5,901 young entrepreneurs from Machakos, Kitui and Makueni counties, providing much-needed capital to start and expand businesses, create jobs and secure their economic future under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
President Ruto said the government is leveraging technology to eliminate corruption, favouritism and bribery in the distribution of public funds.
“We are using technology to deliver government programmes efficiently, transparently and free of corruption,” the President said.
He explained that the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Programme has been fully digitised to ensure equal and fair access to opportunities such as start-up capital, on-the-job training and recognition of prior learning, without human interference.
According to the President, the digital process has effectively ended the culture of connections and patronage, replacing it with a system where opportunity is based on merit.
Under the first phase, each beneficiary will receive KSh25,000, with KSh22,000 sent directly to their Pochi la Biashara mobile money account to support business operations. The remaining KSh3,000 will be saved through the Haba na Haba savings plan managed by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), encouraging a strong savings culture among young entrepreneurs.
In the second phase, beneficiaries will receive an additional KSh25,000, bringing the total NYOTA Start-Up Capital per youth to KSh50,000.
The NYOTA programme is emerging as a flagship youth empowerment model, combining digital transparency, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship support, and positioning Machakos, Kitui and Makueni as key beneficiaries of Kenya’s youth-led economic transformation.
