Nairobi County leads in the uptake of the Hustler Fund having recorded 1.4 million subscribers, who have borrowed over Ksh1.14 Billion since the roll out of the fund 24 days ago.

Only 5pc of those registered under the Hustler Fund are aged above 60, an indication that the fund is more popular with the younger generation.

As of December 23, Ksh10.67 Billion had been disbursed to 17 million registered borrowers who have repaid Ksh3.55 Billion and Ksh533 Million channeled to savings scheme.

The hustler fund is one of President William Ruto’s promises in his campaign which was pegged on the “bottom-Up Economic scale” aimed at supporting small businesses and start-ups.

The Fund is a digital financial inclusion initiative designed to unlock capital access to individuals and small businesses in less than a hundred days in office.

Amid the pomp and flare, critics questioned the viability and sustainability of the fund backed by a backlog of blacklisted credit defaulters.

The loan repayment period is 14 days meaning if one borrows 1,000 shillings, they receive 950 shs, while the 50 shillings is transferred into the savings scheme.

The savings scheme is split in 70 percent for pension and 30 percent savings. Under this, the government targets to mobilize 30 billion shillings in savings from the Hustler Fund in the next 12 months.

Defaulters risk high interests, freezing of their accounts and seizure of accrued savings.

The Hustler Fund is popular among the younger demographic, with only five percent of borrowers aged sixty and above. Nairobi, Kiambu, Nakuru, Machakos and Meru are the top five fund, while Lamu, Mandera, Isiolo, Marsabit and Samburu are in the bottom five.

The government intends to roll out the second phase of the Hustler Fund targeting 3 million small businesses who will access between 100 thousand to Ksh2.5 million.