Nyahururu Center

The town has an urban population of 36,450 according to the National Population Census of 2009. The town still remains to be a central economic power of the immediate former district of Nyandaru—the town has strong economic ties to the two counties. Nyahururu was founded as Thomson Falls after the 243 ft (74m) high Thomson’s Falls on Ewaso Narok river, a tributary of the Ewaso Nyiro River, which drains from the Aberdare mountain ranges. It is situated on the Junction of Nyeri-Rumuruti road and the Nyeri-Nakuru road. The region around Nyahururu is mainly agricultural; to the North Ol Ngarua is famous for its maize, while Shamata to the south is a major producer of potatoes.

Lately, flower farming—Suera Flowers is a pioneer in this venture; it has brought new life to Nyahururu. The town is also a commercial center; it has many supermarkets such as Spears and Mugo supermarkets. Large banks such as Equity, Faulu Kenya and Kenya Women Microfinance Bank Limited have their branches situated in the town. The town has a number of resorts including Kawa Falls Hotel, Laikipia Comfort Hotel, and Thompson Falls Lodge Hotel. There are also a number of fast-food joints in the town. The town heavily relies on the transport industry. There are major highways linking the town to cities such as Nairobi, Nakuru and Nyeri. Most of these roads are now in good condition, and properly paved. Nyahururu is also frequented by marathon and cross-country runners for practicing before major events due to its high altitude. Laikipia University has two campuses, one within and the other on the outskirts of Nyahururu town.

The town also has several highly sought after private schools. Some of the large schools within Nyahururu Town are Busara Forest View Academy and Nyahururu Ellite Schools.

CAP YEI involvement in the town

 CAP YEI conducted a market scan in 2015 to establish skills training caps and job market skills needs among the common employers. It was found that there was need for hospitality, customer relations, leather processing, and other sector industries skilled workforce. CAP YEI started it’s a training program in July 2015 which is located in Nyahururu Youth Polytechnic. It initially trained Leather processing and customer relations and sales, later Security Systems & Guarding and Hospitality were introduced in the center. Since the inception of Nyahururu center has enrolled 6 batches of 231,155 trained and graduated 155, 74.84% got placed in jobs, 76 are in internship, and 7.74% had started their small businesses.