CS Oparanya roots for entrepreneurship courses in local universities

Cooperatives CS Wycliffe Oparanya interacting with youth and women during the Mashinani outreach program on MSME programs in Ikolomani Constituency, Kakamega County. [By Benjamin Sakwa] The government has rolled out the first phase of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project in Kakamega. Speaking during the rollout in Butere, Cabinet Secretary for MSME Development Wycliffe Oparanya urged the beneficiaries to embrace business as a pathway to wealth creation. Oparanya said the five-year initiative, supported by the World Bank, is the largest youth empowerment project in Kenya's history. He said the project targets more than 800,000 vulnerable young people aged 18 to 29, and up to 35 years for persons with disabilities, across all 1,450 wards in the country. "We had 1.4 million applicants, but only 110,000 were selected in this round. This shows how competitive the programme is. Even those with children and persons with disabilities will benefit," Oparanya said. Under the programme, each ward will have 70 youth supported with start-up capital of KSh 50,000 to launch businesses, alongside intensive training and mentorship. Beneficiaries are split into eight clusters nationwide, with Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia and Vihiga forming Cluster One, where the first entrepreneurship training kicked off on Monday. The week-long training will be followed by two months of business mentorship before the disbursement of start-up capital. Oparanya cautioned the youth against misusing the funds, urging them to show responsibility and seriousness in running their enterprises. "The KSh 50,000 is just seed capital. Your behaviour must change to attract customers. Don't waste this money in bars or on unnecessary spending. Even if you start a small shop, in two years you can grow to be a wholesaler or even a manufacturer," he said. He added that government chiefs had been roped in to ensure transparency and close monitoring of the programme, with officials expected to follow up on the progress of businesses set up by beneficiaries. At the same time, Oparanya revealed that he had recently held discussions in Germany with United Nations university students pursuing entrepreneurship degrees. He said the trend highlighted the growing global recognition of entrepreneurship as a key discipline, adding that he will engage Kenyan vice chancellors to introduce similar entrepreneurship course programmes in local universities for youths in business. "When I was in Germany, I met UN university students studying entrepreneurship as a degree programme. I realised it is an area we must also embrace at home. I will be talking to our university vice chancellors to consider introducing entrepreneurship courses in Kenya," he said. The CS also encouraged the youth to embrace a culture of saving, noting that digital banking has made it easier to secure finances. "Nowadays banks even work online; you don't need to go physically. Learn to save because savings are the foundation of sustainable business," he advised. The NYOTA project, which brings together several government agencies, including the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), National Employment Authority (NEA), National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), is expected to produce 110,000 youth entrepreneurs, 90,000 skilled workers, and 20,000 certified artisans, while promoting savings among 600,000 youth. President William Ruto is expected to preside over the formal launch of the NYOTA project in Mumias in the coming weeks, coinciding with the disbursement of the first tranche of start-up capital to beneficiaries in Cluster One. Oparanya expressed optimism that the initiative will transform Kenya's youth into job creators rather than job seekers. "If you want a rich person, he is in business. The government is rehabilitating youths to come and join this arena. Life is short, so take this opportunity seriously and be good examples in your communities," he said.

CS Oparanya roots for entrepreneurship courses in local universities

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