By Benadeta Mwaura - Reporter
Kenya, June 11, 2026 - The National Treasury says the Hustler Fund has disbursed KSh87 billion since its launch in 2022, reaching 28 million accounts and significantly expanding access to formal credit for millions of Kenyans previously excluded from traditional financial systems.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi announced the figures on Thursday while presenting the 2026/27 Budget Statement in the National Assembly, framing the programme as a central pillar of the government’s bottom-up economic transformation agenda focused on grassroots enterprise development.
Mbadi said the government’s approach is anchored on expanding access to affordable credit, strengthening small businesses, and building economic pathways for young people through targeted financing and support systems.
He noted that the Hustler Fund was designed to address a long-standing financing gap affecting informal traders, small enterprises, and low-income earners who have historically struggled to access bank credit.
“Since its inception, the fund has disbursed KSh87 billion to 28 million accounts and enabled 4.5 million Kenyans who were previously listed on credit reference bureaus to begin building a formal credit record,” Mbadi said in Parliament.
The figures highlight the scale of uptake since the programme’s rollout, with millions of borrowers now integrated into the formal financial ecosystem through digital lending platforms linked to the initiative.
Mbadi told MPs that financial access alone is not sufficient to drive meaningful economic transformation, emphasizing the need for complementary programmes that support business growth and skills development.
He pointed to the Nyota Programme as one of the key interventions aimed at nurturing entrepreneurship among young people through training, mentorship, and seed capital support.
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The programme has received more than KSh5.6 billion in funding and is currently active across all 1,450 wards, with at least 84 youths enrolled per ward, according to Treasury data presented in the budget.
Mbadi said the initiative is designed to equip beneficiaries with practical business skills while also providing financial and institutional support needed to start or scale enterprises at the local level.
He added that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) remain central to Kenya’s economic structure, serving as a major source of employment and income generation across the country.
Delivering the budget under the theme “Sustaining the Bottom-Up Transformation Agenda for Resilient and Inclusive Growth Amid Global Uncertainty,” Mbadi said the focus remains on protecting livelihoods while sustaining economic growth amid external shocks.
He argued that expanding financial inclusion and supporting grassroots entrepreneurship will be critical in building a more resilient economy capable of withstanding global volatility and domestic economic pressures.
As the government continues to scale up inclusion-driven programmes such as the Hustler Fund and Nyota initiative, attention is increasingly shifting to their long-term sustainability, repayment performance, and broader impact on household incomes and enterprise growth.
For now, the Treasury is positioning the programmes as key instruments in reshaping Kenya’s credit landscape, bringing millions into formal financial systems while attempting to stimulate bottom-up economic activity across all regions.