My experience with Hustler Fund

On November 30, 2022, President William Ruto fulfilled one of his campaign promises to Kenyans and launched Hustler Funds. 

The President said the fund is mainly designed to help small-scale traders to grow their 'hustles' without worrying about being listed with various CRBs in the country.

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The Fund is categorised into four options. The personal, micro business, SME and start-up loans.

As a phone holder who doesn't have a business, I decided to take up a personal loan, and experience how to navigate while going through the processes of acquiring the loan. 

To access the fund, I dialled *254# and selected option one - which is for the Hustler Fund. 

I then input my M-Pesa pin for verification, and a message was sent informing me of successful registration. I am now excited to continue further to know how much I can receive as a first-timer. 

A message is again sent which read; "Dear customer, your loan limit is Sh3000. Borrow and repay on time to grow your limit." 

As a curious human being, I went ahead and borrowed Sh1,500 and it was instantly deposited to my M-Pesa account, and Sh76.50 was sent to the saving scheme. 

This means I received Sh1,453.5 for my M-Pesa. 

"Dear customer, your Hustler Fund loan request of Sh1,530 is successful, Sh76.50 has been sent to the Savings scheme. Due date is in 14 days," the message read. 

I took a loan of exactly Sh1,530 and repaid it up to five times to check whether my limit would increase, as announced by the President. 

For this period, I have been able to increase my loan limit from Sh3,000 to Sh5,500. 

As for the saving, I have so far managed to save Sh405, which I should be accessing after one year of saving, according to Cooperatives and MSME CS Simon Chelugui.

Chelugui said only 30 per cent of the total money saved will be accessible. The remainder, which is 70 per cent, will be saved for the long term up to the retirement age of 60 years.

"Apart from ensuring that ordinary Kenyans are cushioned from predatory digital lenders, this fund is geared towards inculcating a saving culture, especially among the 16 million Kenyans who are not in formal employment," Chelugui said.

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The loan, in so many instances, helped in those impromptu expenses like tokens, Chama money, lunch and on many occasions, fare to and from work. 

During a round table with Journalists in January, Ruto said the money deducted from the Hustler fund will be used to invest in government securities. 

"Government securities are the surest. There are no default or other problems," he said. 

The President added that the government has come up with an organization that has been licensed by the RBA to manage the savings.

"The amount is approximately Sh700 million as of today, and will be managed by the organisation," he added. 

Since its launch, over 15 million Kenyans have registered with the Fund. 

In the latest update released earlier this month, Kenyans have so far borrowed up to Sh21.2 billion. 

The repaid total amount was Sh11.9 billion while savings are at Sh1 billion. 

During the launch, borrowers were warned against defaulting with the government issuing strict measures to curb the same.

Those who default on the loans will see their interest rates increase from 8 per cent to 9.5 per cent.