MS.

CATHERINE NAMUYE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE

OFFICER

YOUTH

ENTERPRISE

DEVELOPMENT FUND DURING THE YALDA

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD FROM
22ND 26TH JULY 2015 AT USIU
THEME: What Africa Needs Now, Youth Creating
Jobs
YEDF TOPIC OF DISCUSSION: How the youth
can

take

advantage

of

the

opportunities

presented by the Youth Fund

The theme for this event is relevant especially at
this time when Kenya is Co-hosting the Global
Entrepreneurship Summit 2015.
Entrepreneurship is an important input into the
economic development of any Nation. It plays
an enormous role in addressing the challenge of
unemployment which is experienced in many
developing countries. Entrepreneurs have the
ability

to

provide

employment

to

the

unemployed by setting up enterprises that

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create

direct

and

indirect

employment

opportunities for many others.

The role of youth in economic development
cannot be overlooked. The characteristics of
young people make them excellent candidates
for entrepreneurship. They are very aggressive,
ambitious, innovative, have a strong desire for
independence and the need for power. Yet for a
long time, they have been ignored, have been
marginalized

and

lacked

opportunities

to

effectively participate in personal and national

economic development.
Like other African countries, Kenya has been
struggling

with

unemployment,

the
with

challenge
over

70%

of

youth
of

the

unemployed being young people below the age

of 35 years.
The government has prioritized the needs of
youth and have put in place strategies to
address their needs. One of them is the
establishment

of

the

Youth

Enterprise
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Development Fund. The Fund was started in the

year 2006 with the sole purpose of reducing
unemployment among the youth in Kenya.
The Fund is mandated to
Provide loans to youth owned enterprises
Provide market support to youth enterprises
Facilitate youth enterprises to develop linkages
with large enterprises
Provide trading premises and worksites
Provide business development services to
youth owned enterprises
Our loan Products

Group loans

Kshs. 50,000 to

400,000
Individual loans

Kshs. 25,000 to

200,000
Business expansion loans

100,000 to 2 million
Greenhouse loans
Kshs. 358,000
Poultry incubator loans Kshs. 198,000
LPO financing
Kshs.

Kshs.

500,000 to 20 million
How does one become a beneficiary of the
Youth Fund?

Should be 18 to 34 years
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Should be intending to start or expand a

business
If an individual, one should either belong

to a group or have existing business

If a group it should be registered with at
least 70% of members being 18 to 34

years, and all group officials being youth

Should fill an application form that is

provided free of charge

Should have a bank account where loan
will be deposited

Our progress since inception

To date the Fund has advanced loans worth

Kshs.

11.1

billion

to

263,000

enterprises across the country.

320,000 youth have been

entrepreneurship.
2000 young entrepreneurs

youth

trained
have

in

been

facilitated to market their products both

locally and abroad through trade fairs

15,000 youth have been facilitated to get
jobs abroad through the Youth Employment

Scheme Abroad program

Commercial Infrastructure: Trading space
is one of the biggest challenge facing youth
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owned enterprises, mainly because of high

cost

of

partnered

building

or

with

county

establish

renting.

We

have

governments

commercial

to

infrastructure

appropriate for their entrepreneurial needs at

affordable rates.
o We have set up 17 candy shops in
partnership with county governments
of Nairobi and Machakos.
o We have signed MOUs with the county
governments of Embu, Kisumu, and
Nakuru.

This

will

open

partnership

opportunities in other mandate areas of

the Fund. The partnership will facilitate
construction of 150 market stalls in
Nakuru, and 100 in Meru once we sign
the MOU with Meru County government
this

coming

week.

Other

county

governments that we are currently

engaging

with

include

Busia,

and

Kirinyaga.
New initiatives
5

To meet the diverse and changing needs of

young entrepreneurs the Fund has introduced
new initiatives. This include

LPO loans and bid bonds: To

facilitate youth to take advantage of
AGPO. Targets youth who have won
tenders from national and county
governments

as

well

as

state

agencies. Youth can access up to

Kshs. 20 Million

Take 254, film loan: Targets youth

in the film making business. It is for
pre-production, production and postproduction. Applicants may borrow
from Kshs. 500,000 to Kshs. 25
Million

Sharia

compliant

consultation

with

loans:

In

relevant

stakeholders all our loans are now

sharia

complaint

to

encourage

Muslim youth to borrow.

Mentorship programs: The Fund

has expanded its entrepreneurship
training

to

include

mentorship

programs. The programs are meant

to

build

culture

of

entrepreneurship from an early age

and more importantly for them to
make wise choices concerning their
lives. These programs include Ive
got

ten

minutes.do

you?

and

iTEMPO.
1. Ive got ten minutes.do you?:
The programme provides a platform
for

exchange

young

people

of

ideas
and

between
volunteer

mentors. Through the programme

Volunteer mentors share with the
youth on specific life topics, and the
youth have the opportunity to ask
questions. The programme will give
young people the opportunity to
spend a few minutes with their
mentors, air their concerns about
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their daily life and get sound advice

instead of getting the information
from the media and internet. The
new knowledge acquired will also
help them plan their careers and
succeed in life.
2. iTEMPO: Through this initiative the
Fund

shall

identify,

train

and

empower 900,000 youths within a

period of 3 years. The Fund will
identify 2,128 youth per county per
year. They will be trained in clusters
of 532 for a period of 3 months
each. The training will focus on selfbelief,
entrepreneurship

self-motivation,
and

leadership.

Every graduate will be required to

train and mentor at least 2 youths
from his/her constituency. This will
result in the training of at least
300,000 youths per year.
Challenges
8

Despite our strides, we still face challenges. This

include

Many young people lack entrepreneurial skills.

The Fund has to invest a lot of time and
money in preparing them before they can be

advanced loans.
Lack of sufficient
opportunities

awareness

available

on

for

the
youth

empowerment at the Fund, hence need for

concerted efforts in awareness creation

Lack of sufficient mentorship programs and

role models to encourage youth to venture
into entrepreneurship as a viable means to
earn a living. Mentors and role models will
also see businesses of young people survive
beyond one year

Demand for services of the Fund overwhelms

resources. The Funds allocation by treasury
has been on the decline, hence need for more
allocation

Some

parts

financial

of

Kenya

have

inadequate

infrastructure,

inhibiting

disbursement and repayment.

How to access our services

The Fund has 10 regional offices in ten

counties across the country. They have been
created in an effort to enhance service
delivery and our presence at the grass roots.

We have two officers in every constituency

who help youth form groups, fill in application
forms

and

provide

them

with

business

counselling. The officers have been provided

with motorbikes to enable them reach all
parts of their respective constituencies. The
officers can be found in district youth offices
in every constituency.

Our Nairobi Service Centre is located at

Lonrho House, 14th Floor

10

We

have

an

interactive

website

www.youthfund.go.ke.

Write to us on info@youthfund.go.ke, or
complaints@youthfund.go.ke

Interact with us on social media. Our face

book page is Youthfund Kenya and twitter
handle @Youth_Fund

I urge all youth to take interest and initiative to

know what the Fund is doing and how you can
benefit. Engage us and give feedback through
appropriate channels. This will help us improve
quality of services and make better decisions
Thank you

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