Nairobi — Over 800,000 borrowers of the Hustler Fund have defaulted to pay back their loans within the stipulated time of 30 days.
According to the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the continued borrowers of the Hustler Fund as of March 9 stands at 6.5 million Kenyans.
Further, the amount borrowed from the Hustler Fund kitty stands at Sh22 billion and the amount repaid is Sh12.8 billion.
“There are about 800,000 Kenyans who have borrowed and have passed the limit of 30 days of paying the debt, however, we are still giving them a chance and we believe through enlightening and informing them to pay what they borrowed will help them respond.” said Simon Chelugui Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and MSMEs.
“Out of the 19 million Kenyans enrolled only 16 million have borrowed from the fund, the 3 million are enrolled but did not borrow anything either because they are waiting for the large amount or they have not made their choice yet, however, we still welcome them when they decide.”
Chelugui added that the total number of savings stands at Sh1.1 billion while the transactions made so far is Sh34.5 million.
The CS called upon those who have borrowed to pay, so they can benefit from the program to help themselves in improving their lives and also for them to reach a higher financial grade.
The second phase of Hustler fund was launched on March 3 by President William Ruto, which will give loans of between Sh10,000 and Sh200,000 to businesses following the relative success of the individual loan product that was launched three months ago.
Besides credit, the fund also has a built-in savings component targeting Kenyans outside formal employment, supported by partial contributions from the state, where taxpayers will match Sh1 for every Sh2 contributed, capped at Sh3,000 annually.
To be eligible for the fund, one must be a Kenyan citizen aged 18 or older with a valid identification card and a registered mobile number with mobile network providers like Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom.
One will also be required to have a mobile money account that is either Mpesa, Airtel Money, or Tkash, and the sim card must have been in use for more than 90 days.
The Hustlers Fund identifier is the ID number; hence, one customer cannot use more than one number to borrow.
Additionally, savings are secure even if a mobile device is lost because the Hustler Fund account is PIN-protected. Once the SIM card is replaced, access to the account will be restored.
The first phase of the Hustler Fund was launched on November 30 last year to ease access to credit, albeit in small amounts ranging from as low as Sh500 to a high of Sh50,000.