Financial Inclusion fund, commonly known as Hustler fund, is not just a phrase used by many but loan given by the government of Kenya to its citizens. Hustler fund was launched on November 30th, 2023, by President William Ruto to help small-scale business owners, cooperatives and other Kenyans in boosting their hustle.
The loan has attracted a lot of Kenyans due to its low interest charged unlike loans charged by other lenders like the bank. One can borrow a minimum of 500 upto a maximum of 50,000 at 8% prorated basis, which one can acess easily through their mobile phones by clicking a code that is *254#.
The government of Kenya had started the program with a capital start up of ksh 50 billion and three months later 21.1 billion was borrowed by Kenyans according to a recent data given by President Ruto on the launch of second phase of Hustler fund. Although much has been borrowed, critics have it that the funds given to the hustlers are not enough to generate money since a lot of kenyans get to access an amount of about 500 or 1000.
Given the fact that one has to repay the money after 14 days, one’s limit is also expected to increase so that they can continue borrowing, but for some this has not been the case. According to the report given by the Cabinet Secretary of labour and Smes on Hustler Fund, more than 800,000 Kenyans have defaulted to repay Hustler funds. The launch of the new phase comes with the inclusion of women’s funds and increase in limit to Hustler funds now with more terms and conditions to ensure one is able to return the money.
