David Ndii: Hustler Fund is run by private sector, gov't has no access to it

According to economist Ndii, the system through which the fund is being disbursed is fully automated and no public official can access the system's entails.

He noted that the respective Telecos that partnered with the government to disburse the funds are the ones mandated to access the engines and the money is stored in the bank with a "custodian". 

"The Hustler Fund is run by the private sector, we have no access to it and no public official has access to the Hustler Fund it is fully automated. It is run by a private sector, run by an engine provided by the telcos. The money stays with a custodian in a bank," he said while speaking on Citizen TV's Tuesday night show.

The Telcos include Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) like Safaricom, Airtel, Telcom, and others among other technology providers.

Mr.Ndii's eyebrow-raising revelation comes amid talks by political factions on the source of the money as Cooperatives and SMEs CS Chelugui is expected to present a supplementary budget before Parliament as the Ksh.50 billion meant for the kitty was not allocated in the 2022/2023 budget.

There is also an advisory board steering the flagship project as part of efforts by the government to strengthen the program, despite President William Ruto announcing that no committees will be formed to regulate the fund's disbursements. The 4-member board will serve for three years.

This raises the question of why the government would enter into PPPs with different players in the technology industry when they lack access to a commitment that is so crucial to the Kenya Kwanza administration.

The Hustler Fund was launched in November with the objective of helping entrepreneurial individuals unlock their doors to investments.

The fund is accessible through the USSD code *254# and mobile application platforms of any of the mobile network operators in Kenya and has no processing fee according to CS Chelugui.

Under personal finance, a borrower can for the moment access between Ksh.500 and Ksh.50,000. Their qualification will grow by borrowing more and repaying within the allowed time of 14 days. The applicable interest rate is 8 percent per annum, calculated per day.

This means that if a borrower borrows Ksh.1,000, they will be charged interest of Ksh.3.60 should they repay on the 14th day. That comes to Ksh.153 interest for a loan of Ksh.50,000 that must be repaid in two weeks.

But not all the money will be released to the borrower. Five percent of the loan will be deposited to a borrower's savings account. In the case of a Ksh.1,000 loan, that would be Ksh.50, split into Ksh.35 for a pension account, 70 percent, and Ksh.15 will be sent to the short-term savings account of the borrower.

To qualify, a borrower needs to be at least 18 years old and have a Kenyan identity card. They need to be subscribers of either M-PESA, Airtel money or T-Kash, with a sim card older than 90 days.

According to President Ruto, the origins of the Hustler Fund were prompted by the need to give Kenyans in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access to capital.