The government has issued an urgent update to applicants for its National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) program, calling for their immediate participation in a one-day physical validation exercise set for Friday to finalize selections for business grants and training.

The five-year initiative, funded by the World Bank, aims to transform the lives of vulnerable youth by creating employment opportunities, boosting income generation and promoting savings.

Under its Business Support Component, NYOTA plans to equip 100,000 youth entrepreneurs with training, mentorship and startup grants of 50,000 Kenyan shillings ($385) each to launch and grow their businesses.

The validation exercise, scheduled for October 24, 2025, across all 290 constituency headquarters nationwide, will confirm the authenticity and eligibility of applicants.

According to a notice, the process will verify key details such as residency, education level, employment status, gender distribution and disability status, while ensuring only qualified youth are selected to benefit.

“Only those who present themselves physically for the validation will be deemed responsive and eligible for selection, and there will be no repeat exercise thereafter,” part of the statement read

What You Need to Carry

Applicants are required to bring their National Identity Cards, with persons with disabilities needing to provide their disability identification cards for authentication.

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Each constituency will host validation centers with breakout stations organized by wards to ensure efficient and transparent verification.

The Entrepreneurship Aptitude Test (EAT) remains a mandatory requirement for final selection into the Business Support Component.

Youth who haven’t taken the EAT yet can complete it on-site during the validation. To take the test, applicants should send the word “NYOTA” to 40270 and follow the SMS prompts to answer all 19 questions.

The test is free, available on any mobile phone in multiple languages, with a deadline of 12 p.m. on October 24.

All applicants are encouraged to attend the exercise in their respective constituency headquarters as scheduled.

Attendance and completion of the EAT are compulsory for consideration.

Why This Process is Important 

The validation will be led by Principal Secretaries, supported by elected leaders, National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs) and the NYOTA Project Implementation Team through a whole-of-government approach.

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Once the physical validation concludes, the NYOTA team will analyze results and EAT performance reports over a three-day review period.

The final list of successful beneficiaries will then be announced, followed by induction and training sessions to prepare them for the business startup phase.

NYOTA seeks to reach at least 820,000 youth aged 18 to 29 years and up to 35 years for persons with disabilities, across all 1,450 wards in Kenya.

It focuses on enhancing youth employability, supporting entrepreneurship and promoting a culture of savings through four key interventions:

• Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
• On-Job Experience (OJE)
  

  President William Ruto at Nyayo Stadium addressing mourners. PHOTO/DN