Laikipia County Governor Nderitu bets on data to make critical county decisions

Governor Nderitu Muriithi (PHOTO: FILE)

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Youth Enterprise Fund benefitted 182 groups in Laikipia County last year up from 176 groups in 2018, Laikipia County Statistical data 2020 shows.

In 2017 another 142 groups received funding to the tune of Sh7.2 million, the figure disbursed in 2018 and 2019 was Sh18.9 million and Sh19.3 million respectively.

Laikipia West, Laikipia North, and Laikipia East constituencies had 51, 37, and 54 groups funded in 2017 respectively.

In 2019 Laikipia East Constituency had the highest number of youths funded at 85 followed by Laikipia West at 64 and Laikipia North at 33.

The Youth Enterprise Development Fund is one of the flagship projects of Vision 2030, under the social pillar. Its strategic focus is on enterprise development as a key strategy that will increase economic opportunities for, and participation by Kenyan Youth in nation-building.

The Fund seeks to create employment opportunities for young people through entrepreneurship and encouraging them to be job creators and not job seekers. It does this by providing easy and affordable financial and business development support services to youth who are keen on starting or expanding businesses.

The 2020 Laikipia County Statistical Abstract is the third production under Governor Nderitu Muriithi.

It contains an update of the Gross County Product with the National GDP growth rates and also provided a granular presentation of the 2019 National Census data for the county.

“We estimate that Laikipia’s County Gross Product (GCP) was Sh89 billion in 2018 and Sh98 billion in 2019 at current prices. If Laikipia was one of the 217 countries or territories recognised by the United Nations, it would have ranked number 192 in GDP ranking globally in 2018, taking the slot occupied by Samoa,” the Governor noted.

2019 National Housing Census established that Laikipia’s population was 518,560, equivalent to 1.1 per cent of the national population of 47,364,275.

The majority of the population (55 per cent) live in Laikipia West and Nyahururu Sub Counties. The number of males and females were almost equal, with the former ahead by only 338 persons.

County’s average household size was 3.4 against the National average of 3.9. Laikipia North Sub-county had an average household size of 4.6 persons, beating the national average.

Laikipia County has a young population, with 73 per cent (378,410) aged between 0-35 years.

“My Government is committed to collect data for informed decision-making. For instance, we have used the household data collected as part of NHIF enrolment at the household level to identify the most vulnerable households to receive Covid-19 pandemic relief under the ‘Lisha Jamii’ initiative,” said the governor.

“We have again used the same data to select 4,500 households whom my Governments has paid NHIF subscription for. We will continue to deepen the scope and quality of data collection to manage the proposed stimulus package for direct assistance to small businesses and farmers in  financial year 20/21.”

The governor added that in line with the county’s staff modernisation initiative, and particularly the Business Development Service (BDS), all staff will be allocated businesses and farmers to advise in the financial year 20/21 to help them recover the negative impact of Covid-19 pandemic.