NYOTA beneficiaries to receive second grant tranche by June 30

NANCY OMONDI AND ARON KINYAMASYO-KNA

The Government has assured beneficiaries of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project that the second tranche of business start-up grants will be disbursed by June 30, 2026, following delays caused by budgetary adjustments.

Speaking during a press briefing in Nairobi, Principal Secretary for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development Susan Mang’eni said all eligible beneficiaries would receive the funds before the end of the current financial year.

She said the grants would be released simultaneously to beneficiaries across the country. “To this extent, we wish to announce and confirm that the disbursement for the second tranche of business start-up capital will happen by June 30th, 2026. All beneficiaries will receive the grants at the same time, unlike the first tranche disbursement which was phased out in clusters,” said Mang’eni.

The World Bank-supported NYOTA project seeks to empower vulnerable and marginalized youth through business training, mentorship, entrepreneurship support, apprenticeship, recognition of prior learning, job placement and access to market opportunities.

The five-year programme, which commenced implementation on March 2025, attracted about two million applicants under its Business Support Component, demonstrating strong entrepreneurial interest among Kenyan youth.

Mang’eni said 122,147 young people from all the country’s 1,450 Wards had successfully undergone entrepreneurial aptitude assessments and business development support training and had received the first start-up grant of Sh25,000, with Sh3,000 retained as savings under the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

She noted that monitoring conducted after the first disbursement showed encouraging results, with more than 99 per cent of beneficiaries having established businesses.

“The outcome of the first mentorship nationwide hand-holding session and the second business development support classroom training show that over 99 per cent of the beneficiaries of the start-up grant had already established their businesses,” she said.

According to the PS, the Government revised the project’s original phased implementation model following the overwhelming response from applicants and interventions by President William Ruto and the World Bank.

The move allowed all targeted beneficiaries to be enrolled at once instead of being spread across three separate intakes. She explained that the adjustment compressed project activities into a single financial year, creating budgetary pressure that delayed the second disbursement.

“We regret the delay, but it was necessitated by the need for budgetary enhancements after the project design was adjusted to accommodate all selected beneficiaries at once,” she said, adding that the National Treasury was working to resolve fiscal constraints.