Youth to receive loans from September

The government will begin giving out loans without interest to the youth and women in September, Deputy President William Ruto said on Sunday.

Mr Ruto said the money would be made available to all youth, urging them to be ready to apply for the money.

“We are urging all the youths and women to get ready for the loans. We will not cap any interest on them so they should not fear to apply for the money,” he said at the St James ACK Church Buruburu, Nairobi, on Sunday.

The government had promised to remove the interest charged on the loans given the youths when it took office in April.

On Sunday, Mr Ruto urged the target groups to ensure they came up with viable ideas to make it easier for them to access the Sh6 billion loans.

Initially, the loans given under the Youth Enterprise Development fund attracted interest of less than 10 per cent.

The announcement comes at a time the Senate is pushing for the creation of another fund to help unemployed fresh university graduates.

At the same time, Mr Ruto said the government had agreed with Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero to begin constructing 100,000 modern houses to replace the ageing ones in a number of estates in Eastlands.

As per the agreement, the houses should be completed in three years.

Estates targeted include Ziwani, Makadara, Jericho, Bahati and Mbotela.