The government through the State Department of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has rolled out Nyota project, aimed at empowering at least 100,000 youth across the country with skills and capital.
Speaking while in Busia County, the Principal Secretary for State Department of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Susan Mange’eni said the training is underway and the beneficiaries will receive the capital in two installments after training.
“We will give a total of Sh50,000 in which Sh25,000 will be given after the initial training and after a mentorship of about 2 months, they will get the final installment of Sh25,000. We are also considering an aspect of saving for them, 12 percent (Sh6,000) will go into savings, 30 percent (Sh1,800) of which will be their short-term which they can withdraw while 70 percent (Sh4,200) will be invested as long-term,” she said.
Mang’eni further indicated that the beneficiary would have an opportunity to be mentored by the business experts on how to grow their business.
“The young people will be trained for a period of 1 week and will be given the seed capital. Thereafter, they will go practical and will be incubated for a period of 1 or 2 months and then will be given the final instalment of seed capital and be ushered into a business ecosystem.
They will continue to be trained and held up by business experts. They will also be linked up to the market opportunity so that they can grow their business,” the PS said, adding that the targeted beneficiaries were those who have not gone beyond form four.
“We are targeting youth who are aged 18-29 years and not more than 35 years for those who have disabilities. We expect to reach at least 37 youth per ward. We are also checking on the response so that we can identify how the training is done and if there is any gap that we ought to fill,” she explained.
PS Mang’eni said they were going to work with the NGAO officers to ensure that all youth have been considered and helped from all sections of the country.
“We want to ensure we achieve our target, and we have seen many youths joining the training. This also shows the milestone we have reached as a country in the digitization agenda to a point where we can distribute resources and opportunities in a very fair and equitable manner,’ she said.
The Board Chairman of the Micro and Small Enterprise, Mr. James Mureu said the project is aiming at creating employers so that they could increase the job opportunities for many youths.
He added that they are working hard to ensure the project impacts many youths across the country.
Matayos Sub-County DCC Solomon Komen said the county has a lot of opportunities that would help those who have benefited from the project.
“Those youths who have been given the opportunity should ensure that they employ others. Being in the border county, we have many business opportunities that exist. This is taxpayers’ money and should be taken care of,” he said.
By Rodgers Omondi
