Hustler Fund received a shot in the arm on Tuesday, May 16, after the Canadian Government threw its support behind President William Ruto's flagship project valued at Ksh50 billion.
In a statement, Foreign Affairs CS Alfred Mutua confirmed that the Canadian Government, headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, supported the project during a meeting with the North American country's Minister for Small Businesses, Mary Ng, held in Ottawa.
"I also welcomed Canadian Government's support for the Hustler Fund, a flagship economic model by President William Ruto that provides credit to small and medium enterprises," read the statement in part.
The CS further noted that during their meeting, the two ministers agreed to foster trade and cooperation between the two countries.
Specifically, he explained that they agreed to pursue negotiations on Kenya-Canada Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement(FIPPA), paving the way for more foreign direct investments and trade for Kenya.
The other two deals the two countries entered into were working within the Canada-Africa Economic Coop Strategy for broader trade and economic cooperation and a commitment for accelerated negotiation on the foreign direct investments framework with a view to having it signed before the end of 2023.
"I invited Canadian investors to take advantage of Kenya, as a strategic gateway to Africa, to invest within Special Economic Zones and access Africa's market of more than 1.3 Billion people," he added.
Hustler Fund Stats
The Head of State officially launched the Hustler Fund in November 2022, barely two months after taking over the instruments of power.
SME CS Simon Chelugui soon confirmed that a total of Ksh16 billion had been disbursed to 8.4 million subscribers in just two months.
Of the amount, a total of Ksh7.7 billion had been repaid in the same period.
As of February 2023, the Hustler Fund had been allocated a total of Ksh12 billion in the supplementary budget.
At the time, the number of borrowers had ballooned to over 15 million people despite a rising high cost of living.
The number of defaulters had risen to 800,000, while 14.2 million individuals were actively servicing their loans.
During its inception, the Head of State noted that the fund aimed to provide low-interest loans to Kenyan traders of small and medium enterprises.
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