Prof. Njuguna Ndung'u, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary, has suggested allocating an additional Kes10 billion to President Ruto's Hustler Fund, a campaign initiative that aims to offer affordable financing to thousands of small companies and groups.

The Hustler Fund was established in November 2022 to offer MSMEs and individuals inexpensive loans, and Kes11 billion has already been invested in the fund.

"So far, Kes16.07 million, of which 7.1 million are repeat customers, have accessed the fund”, Prof. Ndung'u said on Thursday June 15 while presenting Kenya's 2023/24 spending plan.

Since its lunch in November 2022, a total of 43.5 million transactions have been made on the Hustler Fund. Individuals and MSMEs have borrowed a total of Kes30.8 billion from the Fund, saved Kes1.5 billion as mandatory savings, and Kes17 million on a voluntary basis.

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President William Ruto introduced the second product of the Financial Inclusion Fund on June 1 of this year, allowing lending organizations like chamas and saccos to now take out loans between Kes20,000 and Kes1,000,000.

Additionally, the Women Enterprise Fund will receive Kes182.8 million while SMEs in the manufacturing sector would receive a total of Kes300 million. Additionally, Kes175 million will be given to the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, while Kes192 million will be given to the Uwezo Fund.

Prof. Ndungu also announced the creation of the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) portal, which enables real-time registration and monitoring, as additional interventions to revitalize the MSMEs sector.

Additionally, the Treasury CS instructed all government procuring bodies to guarantee the quick payment of all contracts successfully carried out under the AGPO.

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