Principal Secretary for the State Department for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development, Susan Mang’eni, has clarified that the Nyota initiative is not a fund but a business-centric grant designed to create opportunities for entrepreneurial growth among young people across the country.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Saturday, PS Mang’eni explained that Nyota is different from the Hustler Fund in both its function and target group.
“This program is business-oriented, especially this particular component is business-oriented, and we appreciate that it's not just about funding that you need to do business. You also need capacity building,” Mang’eni said.
She added that the program places strong emphasis on business development, noting that experts have been engaged to guide beneficiaries throughout their entrepreneurial journey.
“So we've really come out strongly on business development, and that's why we have onboarded experts in business development who will be across the country and holding these young people throughout, so even after the five,” she said.
Mang’eni described Nyota as a business-oriented initiative where selected beneficiaries are taken through capacity building before receiving grants.
“I think we are getting it wrong when we try to compare this intervention with other funds. Some people have said, Who will they? Is it money that they are borrowing? No, this is a grant, and you're only being given this grant, first of all, after you have expressed your business intent,” she clarified.
Her remarks come as thousands of youth turned up across the country over the weekend for the Nyota Programme’s physical verification exercise. In Siaya County, hundreds of young people thronged the Kenya Medical Training College grounds for the exercise.
Addressing the youths who turned up, Medical Services Principal Secretary Ouma Oluga, through his representative Raymond Otieno, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to youth empowerment.
“The opportunities offered are the best and most transformative for young Kenyans. This is at the heart of President William Ruto,” he said.
The World Bank-funded Nyota Initiative aims to transform the lives of vulnerable young Kenyans by promoting employment creation, business development, income generation, and a culture of saving.
