Ruto banks on NYOTA project to lift youth from credit trap

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President William Ruto has unveiled a new youth empowerment programme dubbed NYOTA, promising to train 600,000 young people to access government tenders and financial opportunities.

The plan, backed by the World Bank, mainly targets the unemployed and underpaid, single mothers, and persons with disabilities.

It seeks to link youth with public procurement deals and affordable credit while building a national culture of saving.

“We are going to train 600,000 young men and women on how to access government procurement opportunities so that they can be part of Kenya’s business ecosystem,” said the President.

Under the programme, every participant who saves two shillings will get an extra shilling from the government — a bid to promote savings and investment among low-income earners.

The President said the initiative aims to bridge inequality in access to government contracts and credit.

“We want to have resources to invest in the future by saving today,” he told a cheering crowd.

Dr Ruto claimed that his administration has ended the blacklisting of borrowers by Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs).

“From the 7 million people who were blacklisted in CRBs, today through the Hustler Fund we have 7 million who borrow repeatedly and there is nobody blacklisted today in Kenya,” he declared.

However, data from the Central Bank of Kenya and TransUnion, one of the country’s licensed CRBs, shows that credit listing still exists--though new regulations now require bureaus to issue positive and negative scores instead of blanket blacklisting.

The 2022 CRB reforms introduced credit scoring to replace outright bans.

This means individuals with poor repayment histories are still rated low but can rebuild their credit records over time.

The President’s remarks highlight ongoing tension between the government’s populist financial promises and the technical realities of credit reporting.

Dr Ruto tied the NYOTA project to his government’s digitisation agenda, saying the plan will rely heavily on online registration, training, and tracking.

He said every ward will host an ICT hub to create digital jobs and e-commerce opportunities.

“Technology democratises opportunity. You don’t have to know anyone to access it,” he said.

NYOTA is part of the administration’s bottom-up economic transformation model.

Its success will depend on implementation--ensuring the promised 600,000 youth receive actual training, savings incentives, and tender access beyond political speeches.