Ministry of Cooperative and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) PS Susan Mang'eni and CS Wycliffe Oparanya. Photo/courtesy.
Wealthy Kenyans accessed up to five times more from the Hustler Fund than low-income users, according to a new economic survey, raising concerns over whether the fund is truly serving its target group.
The 2025 Economic Survey found that individuals in the top wealth quintile accounted for 35.8 percent of Hustler Fund borrowers, while those in the second-highest quintile followed closely at 33.5 percent. Meanwhile, the poorest Kenyans, whom the fund was designed to support, registered the lowest usage at just 18.7 percent.
“This is not what the Hustler Fund was created for,” said Molo MP Kimani Kuria, who chairs the National Assembly Finance and Planning Committee. “We are seeing more uptake from people who are already financially stable, while the hustlers are barely benefiting.”
Originally launched to ease access to credit for low-income Kenyans, the Financial Inclusion Fund, commonly known as the Hustler Fund, has disbursed billions via mobile phones with minimal vetting. But its loose eligibility criteria are now under fire, especially after the Auditor General flagged irregular disbursements, including loans issued to minors and even individuals listed as being born decades in the future.
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Despite the fund enrolling over 25 million users, recent data shows that 64 percent of all loans are in default, prompting Parliament to reject a proposal to increase its budget from Sh1 billion to Sh5 billion.
Principal Secretaries Susan Mang’eni (State Department for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development) and Patrick Kilemi (State Department for Cooperatives) defended the fund before the National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee, warning that underfunding could derail critical economic programs.
“The Hustler Fund is more than just loans. It’s about empowering small businesses and easing financial inclusion,” said Mang’eni. “We need reforms, not a rollback.”
But lawmakers remained unconvinced. “It’s difficult to justify pouring more money into a fund with such a high default rate and no proper recovery mechanism,” said Budalang’i MP Raphael Wanjala, a member of the committee.
The fund’s demographic breakdown shows that the bulk of borrowers are aged 26–35 (39.4 percent), followed by those aged 36–45 (34 percent). Borrowing is also significantly higher in urban areas (35.4 percent) compared to rural regions (24.2 percent), with business owners and casual workers making up the largest user base.
Men are more likely to access the fund than women, with borrowing rates at 31.8 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, other government-backed financial programs have also taken a hit. Grants to the Uwezo Fund dropped from Sh239.7 million to Sh140.7 million, even as disbursements to youth are expected to rise to Sh324 million.
The Women Enterprise Fund was the hardest hit, suffering an 88.1 percent plunge in loan disbursements after it missed out on government development grants. As a result, the number of women beneficiaries fell drastically from over 208,000 to just 3,307.
