Government launches NYOTA AGPO Digital Training for 600,000 entrepreneurs

The government has rolled out the NYOTA AGPO Digital Training Programme, targeting more than 600,000 young entrepreneurs with skills and knowledge to improve their access to government procurement opportunities.

The Program which forms the fourth component of the NYOTA project is aimed at equipping young entrepreneurs, women and persons with disabilities with skills, knowledge and linkages to enhance access to government tenders.

Speaking during the launch, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni said government is leveraging on the success of the ongoing NYOTA project components including Business Support, On Job Experience (OJE) and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and is expected to widen the reach to over 820,000 beneficiaries as per the project design.

All the NYOTA project applicants as well as the targeted AGPO beneficiary groups including women and persons with disabilities, are eligible for the programme regardless of their age and education qualifications.

She noted that the government of Kenya through Section 53(6) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act (PPADA), 2015, reserves at least 30 per cent of its annual procurement budget for enterprises owned by youth, women and persons with disabilities, in recognition of the large market held by government being the largest consumer of goods and services in the economy.

In the current financial year the PS said Kenya’s budget is estimated at Kshs. 4.8 trillion, presenting procurable opportunities of not less than Kshs, I trillion.

“The thirty per cent AGPO translates to not less than Kshs, 300 billion. However, despite this glaring opportunity, the absorption still remains low with many eligible beneficiaries facing barriers including low awareness of AGPO, complex application procedures, low business formalisation and limited enterprise readiness,” PS noted.

Consequently she said the AGPO training is designed to close these gaps, and catalyse AGPO uptake among the youth to help them not only expand their markets, but also gain the necessary competency for performing government tenders.

“The training will not only widen youth participation in public procurement but also facilitate linkages to financing, markets, digitization to unlock opportunities for youth entrepreneurship,” she said.

The training is offered free of charge and structured into Five SelfPaced modules delivered in a 10-week spread.

Each module covers two weeks: course work in the first week and the second week for practical sessions, in a successive sequence with topics including: AGPO foundations and business readiness: the 30 per cent reservation, eligibility and AGPO certification and public procurement, bid preparation and tender documentation.

Others are registering and bidding on the Government’s electronic procurement systems, IFMIS and e-GP, contract execution, cash-flow management and procurement financing as well as governance, record keeping and strategies for building a sustainable enterprise.

The practical sessions will entail webinars on targeted areas by subject matter experts, the industry captains and live interactive sessions to help deepen the understanding of the lessons.

The content of the training is available in both English and Kiswahili.

Those wishing to enrol for the training, are required to dial the zero-rated USSD Short code *254#, select NYOTA AGPO, complete the registration steps, and will be redirected to a link for the training platform sent through an SMS.

The government is organising a special subsidized data bundle in partnership with Safaricom to facilitate the training and will be made available to all successful AGPO digital training applicants.

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