National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Project
The National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) is a transformative initiative by the Government of Kenya, funded by the World Bank. This five-year project aims to empower youth by addressing unemployment, income insecurity, and limited savings. NYOTA targets vulnerable youth aged 18-29 (up to 35 for Persons with Disabilities) across all 47 counties.
Building on the Kenya Youth Employment and Opportunities Project (KYEOP), NYOTA aspires to create systems that sustain long-term opportunities for employment, earnings, and financial inclusion. The project’s development objective is to increase employment, earnings, and savings among targeted youth at a national scale.
TARGET GROUP
- Age: 18-29 years (and up to 35 years for PWDs)
- Education: Form 4 level of education and below.
- Employment: Unemployed, underemployed or in low-income employment.
- Location: Kenyan youth from all 47 counties, including refugees in Garissa and Turkana.
- Targeted Number: 800,000 vulnerable youth.
Key Components
- Improving Youth Employability by empowering youth with social and technical skills, apprenticeship opportunities, and job placement support and Recognition of Prior learning.
- Expanding Employment Opportunities through entrepreneurship development and support to social enterprises.
- Supporting Youth Savings: Promoting a culture of saving through incentives, enhanced systems, and financial literacy.
- Strengthening Youth Employment Systems, Capacity, and Project Management: Building robust systems to support youth employment and project coordination.
Spotlight on Component 2: Expanding Employment Opportunities
Implemented by the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), this component targets 110,000 youth, including 5,000 refugees and 5,000 from host communities. The goal is to expand employment opportunities through entrepreneurship support and result based financing in partnership with social enterprises.
Key interventions under Component 2 include:
- Business Start-Up Capital: Providing seed funding to support youth launch and grow their entrepreneurial ventures.
- Skills Development: Offering socio-emotional and business skills training.
- Business Development Services and Mentorship Support: Facilitating networking, mentorship, and market linkages.
- Results-Based Financing (RBF) for Social Enterprises: Collaborating with pre-qualified social enterprises to support hard-to-serve youth through guided entrepreneurship and micro-franchise opportunities.
Stay tuned for the official call for applications to join the NYOTA programs. Applications will be submitted through our online portal at NYOTA Project Website. The process includes application submission, a screening stage, and a randomization and selection phase where applicable.
