Hustler Fund Reaches 28M Borrowers, Disburses KSh94B

In Short

• Hustler Fund has reached nearly 28 million Kenyans and disbursed close to KSh94 billion since launch.
• The programme has mobilised nearly KSh7 billion in mandatory and voluntary savings.
• Voluntary savings are nearing KSh900 million.
• The government says it wants clearer, verified default figures.

What Happened

Kenya’s Hustler Fund says it has reached nearly 28 million borrowers and disbursed close to KSh94 billion since it launched. The update was shared on September 11, 2026, by Susan Mang’eni, Principal Secretary for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development.

Hustler Fund is a digital lending programme, which means people borrow through a phone-based system rather than visiting a bank branch. Mang’eni described it as a “credit nursery” meant to help borrowers build a credit record, which is a track record of how you repay loans.

The programme also includes savings. It has mobilised almost KSh7 billion in mandatory and voluntary savings. Mandatory savings are amounts users must set aside as part of using the loan product, and voluntary savings are optional deposits. Voluntary savings are approaching KSh900 million.

Mang’eni also pushed back on political claims that borrowers do not repay. She called for proper tracking to establish the actual default rate, meaning the share of loans that are overdue and unlikely to be repaid.

Why It Matters

At this scale, Hustler Fund is one of Kenya’s largest mass-market digital credit channels. If the programme can reliably track repayment performance, it could shape how banks and other lenders price risk for low-income and informal workers.

Clear default data also matters for policy decisions. It affects whether government-backed credit is expanded, restructured, or tightened. It also influences how sustainable the programme is, especially as it approaches four years in November.