Analysis of the perceptions of the role of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund in fostering the growth of youth enterprises - a case study of youth enterprises in Nairobi county

Abstract

The need to improve the economic status of the youth in any country has come to be a major preoccupation of many governments. The Kenyan government has in recognition of this set up the Youth Enterprise Development Fund whose objective is to facilitate the disbursement of funds to the youth enterprises. The objective of the study was to analyze the perception of the youth entrepreneurs who have benefitted from their Fund as to whether it has fostered the growth of their enterprises. The Youth Enterprise Fund was set up to take advantage of the growing capacity and interest of the youth to engage in entrepreneurship. This study therefore, sought to evaluate the role of the Fund in encouraging the growth of enterprises in selected constituencies in Nairobi County. The study used descriptive research design. The population of the study was 588 Nairobi youth groups that have benefitted from YEDF. The study used systematic random sampling technique in which researcher selected every fifth group in the list data provided thus arriving at 118 youth groups. The study used primary data which was collected through self-administered questionnaires. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and presented using tables and figures. The study also employed inferential statistics to establish the relationship between the study variables and perceived growth of the youth enterprises. The study found out that complementary services were being offered by the YEDF to the youth enterprises in order to equip them with the necessary skills to run their enterprises successfully. The study found out that access to finance from YEDF exposed youth enterprises to better business opportunities, created employment for the youth and easier access to government funding for businesses growth. The study concluded that there is a positive relationship between complementary services, access to finance and perceived growth of youth enterprises. The study recommends that for YEDF to be more effective in empowering young entrepreneurs, more emphasis should be put in giving more training in entrepreneurship skills to youth before and after accessing the loans. The study further recommends that there should be an increase in the amount given to youths as a start-up loans from the youth enterprise development fund in order to give the youths a wider range of opportunities for investment.