Revealed: Youth fund coffers are empty

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

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Youth Enterprise Development Fund CEO Josiah Arabu Moriasi. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

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By Samwel Owino

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Nation Media Group

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Thousands of youth who have applied to get a slice of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund are staring at a bleak outcome as the fund is yet to get any amount from the government this financial year.

The fund's Chief Executive Officer, Josiah Moriasi, on Tuesday told Members of Parliament that they have received applications from young people who need loans amounting to Sh600 million, yet the fund was only allocated Sh317 million in this Financial Year.

While appearing before the National Assembly committee on Diaspora Affairs and Migrant workers, Mr Moriasi told the lawmakers that despite the huge number of applications that the fund has received, it is yet to get any disbursement from the government in this new financial year.

“We are keeping the high applications in the office, hoping to get funds. The rate at which applications are being made is higher than the disbursement,” Mr Moriasi told the committee.

“The demand is so high, we currently have applications totalling Sh600 million against an allocation of Sh317 million in the 2025/26 financial year. We are in sixth now, but we haven’t even received half,” he added.

The revelations by Mr Moriasi paint a grim picture of the fund, which was established in 2006 to champion the creation of youth employment through enterprise development.

In the last one year alone, Mr Moriasi told the committee that 2,034 youths have accessed loan facilities offered under the fund, totalling Sh418 million.

Majority of youths who have benefited from the fund are those who are doing small businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where 1,629 beneficiaries have received Sh339 million.

Read: Defaults on Hustler, Uwezo, Youth funds hit Sh28.4bn

Young people with various businesses in the United Kingdom have received a total of Sh69 million from the fund while 13 youths who got various business opportunities in Turkey received a total of Sh3.6 million.

Other young people in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Qatar and Greece have received a total of Sh6.1 million.

For those going to do business abroad, Mr Moriasi said the fund mostly caters for the visa and air ticket costs.

Read: Concern as Kenyans borrow Sh18.4bn from government funds, fail to repay

“For those going abroad, before we give them loans, they must have evidence of placement letters and demonstrate that they have been interviewed and passed a medical test,” Mr Moriasi said.

“This is a loan and must be repaid. Most applicants are given Sh200, 000 but those going to the United Kingdom get a higher amount, but the maximum amount is Sh300,000,” Mr Moriasi told the committee.

He told the committee that the repayment period of the loans advanced under the Vuka programme, which is a short to medium term lending product meant to finance working capital for business start-up and expansion, is determined by the amount a group or an individual has been given.

For instance, those given Sh100,000 have a maximum of one year to repay the loan, those given Sh100,001 to Sh300,000 have a maximum of two years to repay the loan.

For those given Sh300, 001 to Sh1, 000,000 have a maximum of three years to repay the loan. Those who have received Sh1, 000,001 to Sh3, 000,000 have five years to pay back the loan

The fund, which in 2007 was transformed into a State Corporation, was also meant to address the challenges of youth unemployment and underemployment as contained in the flagship project of Vision 2030

The fund is mandated to promote youth employment by providing funding and business development services to youth-owned enterprises.

The fund is also meant to provide incentives to commercial banks through appropriate risk mitigation instruments to enable them to increase lending and financial services to youth enterprises.