The government is finalizing plans to roll out the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) loans product of the hustler fund that will be disbursed in partnership with regulated SACCOs.
CS Simon Chelugui said in Mombasa that before rolling out the SME loan product they are working closely with registration institutions to have a central register to avoid double borrowing.
“We are now working on onboarding the small enterprises’ individuals as we move to groups; we still have a few issues with the registrar of groups. There are three places where groups are registered namely, the registrar of business services; the social services; and Micro and Small enterprises services,” said CS Chelugui.
The CS stated that the government is partnering with regulated SACCOs in the disbursement of the Micro Enterprise Loan product.
The personal finance product offers between Sh500 and Sh50, 000 at an interest rate of 8 per cent per annum has in over three months since its launch provided affordable credit to over 19 million Kenyans.
CS Chelugui further revealed that so far, the government has disbursed over Sh24 billion through the hustler fund with a repayment of Sh14 billion, at a repayment rate of 60 percent.
“We have been able to also save Sh1.25 billion from all the borrowers and we have a total of 7 million Kenyans who are its customers. And we have 24 billion in circulation, said the CS adding that 6.5 million Kenyans who were listed by the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) have been rehabilitated back into the main financial circulation.
The personal finance product limit was enhanced on the 1st of March and doubled. Those who borrow and pay on time receive a double enhanced limit.
The Kenya Government launched the Hustler Fund – a Flagship Programme of the Kenya Kwanza Government’s Manifesto that will go a long way in realizing financial inclusion for millions of Kenyans who would otherwise be excluded from the mainstream financial system.
By Sadik Hassan
