President William Ruto has unveiled his commitment of increasing efforts to foster youth entrepreneurship by stating that they would go beyond the creation of jobs for the youth to helping them create jobs for others.

Speaking on Thursday, October 8, 2026, Ruto announced that they would spend KSh5 billion through the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Business Support Programme to empower young entrepreneurs countrywide. The President said that they would target 134,000 young entrepreneurs in 1,450 wards, focusing on those with the highest level of education being Form Four and below.

“Our aspiration is not simply to prepare young people to find jobs, but also to prepare them to create jobs,” the President said. “Through the Nyota Business Support Program, we are spending ksh5 billion shillings to target 134,000 young entrepreneurs in 1,450 wards of our country, specifically to sensitize the youth with Form Four and below education.”

The President’s remarks come as the government ramps up efforts to boost job creation for the country’s vast youthful population through the NYOTA Business Support Component, which offers training in business skills, start-up capital, and mentorship to aspiring entrepreneurs.

According to government figures, the NYOTA program has already benefited more than 122,000 young people countrywide in all the 1,450 wards. The business start-up capital program had in July seen more than KSh3 billion released to 122,203 beneficiaries.

The Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA) indicates that the business support component is meant to assist the targeted young people in setting up enterprises while also providing mentorship and market links.

In addition, the government has been providing the business start-up support in two tranches. Thus, in June, the State Department for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSME) announced that 122,000 beneficiaries would receive a second tranche of KSh25,000, making it a total of KSh50,000 for each recipient.

Ruto further stated that they intended to expand the business support component of NYOTA and that they would make a separate announcement regarding this.

“Na hiyo program ya Nyota, especially the business support, I am going to be making another statement because we want to expand that program,” he said.

The President said that they had mobilized an additional KSh20 billion under the Kenya Jobs and Economic Transformation Programme for micro, small, and medium enterprises in high-potential growth sectors.

In the wake of the above declaration, it suffices that enterprise creation has become a focal point of government efforts to address the country’s unemployment challenge, with NYOTA providing a significant amount of capital and business development support to young entrepreneurs.

Nevertheless, it remains unclear how the recently announced KSh5 billion will be apportioned to the 134,000 entrepreneurs, as well as the procedure that the beneficiaries would go through to apply for the funds.

The government’s current NYOTA program model entails that the recipients of the start-up capital shall also receive training and mentorship, which will enable them to not only set up enterprises but also to effectively run and develop them.