The latest Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Tracker Survey August 2023 indicates that about 45 percent of MSEs had borrowed from the Hustler fund.
The awareness of the fund introduced by the government last year among respondents running active and closed businesses was high at 95.1 percent.
The Financial Access (FinAccess) survey conducted through the joint partnership of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD Kenya), among other public and private sector stakeholders, locally and abroad indicates that a majority (95.1%) of owners of MSEs are aware of the Hustler Fund.
About 18.1 percent of respondents borrowed purely to fund business operations, particularly as working capital. In addition, the survey indicates that among those who borrowed for business purposes only, 74.3 percent used the funds to boost their working capital while 22.0 percent used the funds to expand their business.
The overall borrowing from the hustler fund among respondents was reported at 51.3 percent. More male than female business people borrowed from the hustler fund. The main reason given for borrowing from the fund was for personal or household purposes such as meeting daily expenses.
The findings also reveal that 68.6 percent of borrowers use monies borrowed from Hustler Fund for personal and household purposes and 13.3 percent borrowed monies for both business and personal purposes.
The survey also reveals that the uptake of mobile banking loans by MSEs reduced to 28.0 percent in June 2023 from 57.2 percent in October 2022 while the uptake of Mobile money overdrafts (E.g. Fuliza) and Loans from banks/ microfinance banks increased significantly over the same period. “Further, uptake of loans from banks/ microfinance banks increased from 6.4 percent in October 2022 to 15.9 percent in June 2023.”
The survey findings indicated 56.3 percent of MSEs had existing business loans as of June 2023 up from 55.0 percent in October 2022. More male-owned businesses reported having business loans at 57.9 percent in June 2023 compared to female-owned businesses at 55.2 percent.
MSEs take loans for a variety of reasons with survey findings indicating that in June 2023, 59.0 percent of MSEs borrowed to purchase stock/supplies compared to 51.6 percent in October 2022.
In June 2023, owner-operated MSEs indicated they borrowed largely to purchase stock/supplies at 60.2 percent, 47.4 percent borrowed to cover households’ expenses and 23.0 percent borrowed for education.
