President William Ruto has taken pride in the success of his pioneer empowerment initiative, Hustler Fund, dismissing his critics branding it a failure.
Speaking during the Presidential Round Table with the Private Sector on Wednesday, August 6, President Ruto listed that in just under three years, the Hustler Fund has disbursed over KSh 72 billion to 26 million Kenyans and mobilised over KSh 5 billion in savings.
The fund has also provided vital working capital to millions of micro-entrepreneurs.
The president called out the naysayers of the initiative, saying they might look down on its impact because they have it all and have never experienced the despair of being locked out of the financial system
“Our critics – the naysayers, the perpetual pessimists, the chorus that never sees anything working in Kenya – would have you believe that the Hustler Fund is a total failure. They say this because they either do not understand or refuse to acknowledge the daily realities of the millions of Kenyans this fund was designed to empower.
To them, a micro-loan of KSh1,000 seems too small to matter. But that is only because they have never walked in the shoes of those who were left at the margins of our society for far too long. They have never experienced the despair of being locked out of the financial system, of having no credit history, no collateral, and no chance,” said President Ruto.
President Ruto further dismissed claims that the Fund has a 60% default rate, terming it a deliberate distortion of facts.
He announced that Hustler Fund has a recovery rate of 83.3%, nearly identical to that of the formal banking sector, whose repayment rate stands at 83.6%.
"We will not be distracted by the merchants of doom and negativity, those who, when facts do not serve their agenda, resort to fabricating narratives to prop up their falsehoods. We remain unfazed in building a new, inclusive, fair and equitable society, and I count on the private sector, an essential ally and collaborator, in this quest," President Ruto added.
