Thika Sub-County Youth Officer Patrick Muema has said the number of youth applying for the Kiambu County Biashara Fund has drastically gone up.
Speaking in his Thika office on Thursday, Muema said many youth in the sub-county have showed renewed interest in the fund, something he has attributed to regular field sensitisation programmes targeting youth in various parts of the sub-county.
"When I came here late last year, there was apathy towards the Biashara Fund among local youth and they were not enthusiastic about it. We sought to find out what the problem was by going to the field,” said Muema.
He added, “Many of them were more concerned about how to repay the loan more than how to apply for it," said Muema.
The youth officer said they talked to the youth and showed them how to come up with solid and viable business ideas.
“I can say that the result has been overwhelming because up to now we are still receiving new applications for the Biashara Fund," he said.
Muema said currently there are over 30,000 Biashara Fund loans being processed at the Kiambu County Headquarters with Thika Sub-County having a sizable number of beneficiaries.
He urged those groups whose applications were not successful to re-apply for the loans for consideration in the next round.
"This is a revolving fund and the current applications under consideration are not the last ones. Many of those groups that failed last time re-applied and now they have succeeded, thus who have failed this time have another chance," said Muema.
The sub-county was among those that had few applications last year.