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President William Ruto has revealed that the Hustler Fund has lent Kenyans Ksh60 billion since it was established two years ago.

Speaking during the 2024 Jamhuri Day celebrations at the Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi, Ruto said the Fund has liberated millions from predatory lenders and precarious financial situations, enabling them to meet their needs, fund their hustles, and build their credit scores.

“The Hustler Fund is marking its second anniversary on a highly successful note, having empowered Kenyans by lending a total of KSh60 billion so far, liberating millions from predatory lenders and precarious financial situations, enabling them to meet their needs, fund their hustles, and build their credit score,” Ruto stated.

The head of state also revealed that the Fund has designed a new product, the Bridge Loan, to help Kenyans with good credit scores transition from personal loans to enhanced facilities offering larger loan amounts with longer repayment periods.

“Our ongoing conversation with borrowers focuses on concerns related to the short borrowing duration, modest loan amounts, and the time required to increase borrowing limits. In response to this feedback, the Fund has designed a new product, the Bridge Loan, to help Kenyans with good credit scores transition from personal loans to enhanced facilities offering larger loan amounts with longer repayment periods. This will enable Kenyans to pursue bigger opportunities and better investment,” he added.

Ruto also announced that the government is undertaking an ambitious expansion of the national digital infrastructure by deploying a fibre optic network to connect over 74,000 public institutions and establish 25,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots.

“We intend to use this infrastructure to extend Internet connectivity to 8.5 million homes and businesses and eliminate the digital divide which undermines technological inclusivity in homes, schools, villages and counties,” Ruto said.

Ruto also says his administration has digitised 20,855 government services, streamlining public service delivery, enhancing transparency and efficiency, eliminating opportunities for corruption, and increasing the visibility and mobilisation of public revenues.

“Our digital transformation strategy is making significant contributions to skills development and job creation. For example, Ajira Digital and Jitume Digital are advancing our vision to equip 20 million citizens with ICT skills, fostering entrepreneurship and enhancing inclusive digital literacy. In other words, an additional 20 million Kenyans are being prepared for high productivity in the digital economy. We have also adopted the integration of creative industry courses into technical and vocational colleges as a reliable mechanism to build a skilled workforce,” he added.