The National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project is a 5-year initiative by the Government of Kenya, funded by the World Bank, aimed at transforming the lives of vulnerable youth.
Over five years, NYOTA will create employment opportunities, enhance income generation, and promote savings among the youth population.
Under the Business Support Component, 100,000 youth entrepreneurs will receive entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and start-up grants of KSh50,000 each to launch and grow their businesses.
The Physical Validation Exercise for the business support component will take place on Friday, 24th October 2025, across all 290 constituency headquarters in the country.
The physical validation exercise, therefore, seeks to confirm the authenticity and eligibility of applicants, ensuring that only genuine and qualified youth are selected to benefit.
The process will verify key details such as residency, education level, employment status, gender distribution, and disability, while also confirming that applicants are available to participate fully throughout the project cycle.
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.
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 Whole-of-Government approach.
Every constituency will host a validation centre(s) with breakout stations organised by wards to ensure efficient and transparent verification.
Entrepreneurship Aptitude Test
Applicants will be required to present their National Identity Cards, and Persons with Disabilities must provide their disability identification cards for authentication.
The Entrepreneurship Aptitude Test (EAT) remains a mandatory requirement for final selection into the Business Support component. Youth who have not yet taken the EAT will be allowed to undertake it on-site during the validation. To take the test, applicants should send the word NYOTA to 40270 and follow the SMS prompts to complete all 19 questions. The test is free of charge, can be done on any mobile phone, and is available in multiple languages. The deadline for completing the test is Friday, 24th October 2025, at 12:00 p.m.
All applicants are encouraged to attend the validation exercise in their respective constituency headquarters as scheduled. Attendance and completion of the EAT are compulsory for consideration.
This nationwide exercise marks an important milestone in empowering Kenya’s young people with practical tools for entrepreneurship, employment, and sustainable livelihoods, and underscores the government’s commitment to inclusive economic growth and youth transformation.
Once the physical validation exercise concludes, the NYOTA project team will analyse the results and Entrepreneurship Aptitude Test 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 the successful applicants for the business start-up phase.
The NYOTA Project seeks to reach at least 820,000 youth aged between 18 and 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), Business Support, and Digital Training on Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) and the e-GP platform.
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