President William Ruto, on Saturday, April 22, announced that Hustler Fund targeting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), would be launched between May and June 2023.
The new facility would allow traders to access Ksh100,000 and Ksh2.5 million credit to support their ventures.
While addressing Meru residents, Ruto indicated that the new loan product would further help small business owners upscale their ventures.
“The second phase of Hustler Fund that will be accessible to business people will be rolled out in the next one or two months,” Ruto stated while launching different projects in Meru County.
At the same time, the Head of State revealed that the government had disbursed Ksh26 billion from the microloan product. He also dismissed default claims indicating that most borrowers were repaying the loans as stipulated.
He further lauded Meru residents indicating that they were among the top beneficiaries of the credit facility borrowing and repaying from Hustler Fund.
“I want to congratulate the people of Meru because they are good business people. Out of the Ksh835 million borrowed through hustler funds, 68 per cent of that money has been paid on time," Ruto stated.
SMEs Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui had earlier announced that the credit would have eight (8) per cent interest. He also indicated that the credit would target three million traders.
Initially, President Ruto was expected to launch the loan facility in February, but the date was shifted.
Ruto launched the product to address the issue of unemployment in the country. He pledged to pump in billions of shillings to support small traders such as grocery retailers and the boda boda riders.
During the launch, Ruto promised to allocate Ksh50 billion to the facility to provide easy loans for low-income earners without collateral under his bottom-up economic model.
