NYOTA PROJECT

Project Overview

The National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Project is a five-year initiative by the Government of Kenya financed by the World Bank. It seeks to unlock the potential of Kenya’s youth by addressing unemployment, expanding income-generating opportunities, and fostering a culture of savings and entrepreneurship. NYOTA Project plays a critical role in advancing the country’s youth-led economic transformation agenda by empowering young people to become active agents of national development, innovation, and long-term economic resilience.

Target beneficiaries

The NYOTA project targets 820,000 unemployed youth, aged between 18-29 years and up to 35 years for Persons with Disabilities countrywide with Form 4 level of education and below.

The NYOTA Project Interventions

The project, implemented through a multiagency approach, features four interventions.

1. Improving Youth Employability: This intervention will equip 90,000 young people with in demand skills, through social emotional skills development and apprenticeships (on-the-job training). It will also provide certification to 20,000 youth with skills through the process of recognition of prior learning (RPL). This will be guided by real time data and information on emerging labour market trends, high growth sectors and skills in demand locally, regionally and globally. It is implemented by the State Department for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy (SDYACE), National Employment Authority (NEA) National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) and the State Department for Labour and Skills Development (SDL).
2. Expanding Employment Opportunities: This intervention will support 110,000 young entrepreneurs to start or expand their own businesses through; training on life and business skills, provision of business capital, mentorship, and linkages to financial services. This is implemented by the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA).
3. Supporting Youth Savings: This intervention will equip 190,000 (from intervention 1 & 2) beneficiaries with basic financial literacy skills and saving incentives, encouraging them to save for their life goals as their money grows. The intervention is performed by National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
4. Strengthening Youth Employment Systems: This intervention is strengthening systems and coordination of youth empowerment initiatives, building capacity of Ministries, Departments Agencies, and County Governments to invest in youth empowerment. Additionally, it provides digital training to 600,000 youth on accessing government opportunities. This component is executed by the SDYACE and State Department for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SD-MSMED).