Likoni Deputy County Commissioner Mathew Wambugu has urged youth to take advantage of the Ksh. 5 billion National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (Nyota) programme, which aims to uplift their lives through job creation and entrepreneurship support.

Wambugu, who presided over the National Tree planting exercise in Likoni, Mombasa, today said the government is committed to improving the livelihoods of young people in Likoni and across the country.

The DCC coordinated with sub-county stakeholders, including the Kenya Forest Service and local communities, to implement the the National Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and the government's goal of reaching 30% tree cover by planting 15 billion trees by 2032 which  will  help restore degraded ecosystems, combat climate change, and create green jobs,

Wambugu encouraged young people, including women and persons with disabilities across Likoni to Apply for Nyota Programme whose application portal was reopened on October 6th stating that Likoni sub-county had recorded a lower number of applications despite the programme's wide-ranging benefits.

The Nyota Programme is a five-year Government of Kenya initiative funded by the World Bank. It seeks to empower young people through employment creation,skills development, entrepreneurship support, and the promotion of a savings culture.

The programme is being implemented across all 47 counties,targeting youth employment and enterprise growth. 

Under this initiative, 70 youth-run enterprises in each of Kenya's 1,450 wards will receive a kshs.50,000 capital injection to boost their ventures and promote sustainable livelihoods. 

Speaking from Timbwani primary school, Wambugu said the programme was being rolled out concurrently nationwide,  targeting more than 820,000 young people.

The nationwide rollout of the exercise began on Monday.