President William Ruto has revealed that an impressive 90% of Kenyans are repaying their Hustler Fund loans, despite the absence of collateral requirements.
Speaking during the official opening of the World Chambers Federation (WCF) Africa Summit 2025 held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi on Wednesday, April 9, President Ruto highlighted the strong repayment culture among Kenyans as a sign of trust and value in the initiative.
“It is amazing how the Hustler Fund today, despite having no collateral, has achieved up to 90% repayment,” Ruto stated. “You would expect that with no collateral, there’d be little incentive to repay, but Kenyans are paying back because they recognize the value in the low interest rates offered.”
The President emphasized that the Hustler Fund, officially launched in November 2022, has played a significant role in expanding access to affordable credit, especially for small businesses and informal sector players who were traditionally excluded from mainstream financing.
“Our goal is to catalyze a bottom-up surge of creative and productive opportunities through strategic investment and targeted intervention,” he said. “The Financial Inclusion Fund, or Hustler Fund, has already unlocked credit access for millions of Kenyans.”
Accessible via USSD and mobile app platforms, the Hustler Fund offers loans of up to Ksh 50,000 at an annual interest rate of 8%, making it one of the most affordable loan products available to ordinary Kenyans.
The President’s remarks come amid ongoing efforts to boost financial inclusion and empower grassroots enterprises under the government’s bottom-up economic transformation agenda.
