More than 100 youths across Nakuru County are set to benefit, with the county government’s plan to roll our commercial infrastructure (kiosks) in Nakuru, GilGil, and Njoro through the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF).
Speaking today, Thursday in his office during a meeting with YEDF board, Nakuru county Governor Kinuthia Mbugua said this will help in creating business opportunities for most youths in the county, while at the same time linking them to the market.
“This programme is evidently very viable considering the need to give our youths an opportunity to own a business. This will in addition give them an opportunity to decently display their ability to have a stake in nation building.
“I strongly support this project as we work on addressing the spiraling trend of unemployment,” Kinuthia said.
Youth fund CEO Catherine Namuye also added that they are going to establish more business ventures for the youth including hatcheries and greenhouses using the fund.
The beneficiaries will later pay gradually after a period of time.
She also affirmed that there are various areas of entrepreneurship where given the opportunity and the wherewithal; they can potentially tap their ability on.
She insisted that the fund will go a long way in filling such voids, and urged the youth to apply.
“We need to derive the perception that all jobs are hard and encourage youth to diversify their entrepreneurship. The youth fund will also support counties that are driving the youth agenda forward in the same,” Namuye said.
On his part, the governor added that the county government will set aside funds to set up a recording studio in the next financial year in a bid to support the growing number of artistes in the area.
“We have more than a thousand youths in Nakuru alone who are promising artistes. Most of them need assistance and thus, the best way is to build a recording studio where they can record for free and get necessary assistance to nurture their talents,” Kinuthia said.