More than nine million Kenyans who defaulted on loans from the Hustler Fund will not benefit from the government’s new youth empowerment initiative the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) program.
The government, in partnership with the World Bank, launched the NYOTA fund to empower young people through enterprise creation. Under the initiative, the government aims to support the establishment of 100,000 youth-led businesses, with up to 70 young people in each of Kenya’s 1,450 wards set to receive grants of Ksh.50,000 each.
On September 12, Principal Secretary for the State Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Susan Mang’eni, revealed that Hustler Fund defaulters collectively owe the government Ksh.5 billion. She emphasized that individuals who deliberately failed to repay their Hustler Fund loans will not be eligible for NYOTA or other government-backed financial programs.
“Borrowers who have purposefully refused to pay the loan acquired three years ago will not have access to other government credit facilities such as the Social Health Authority (SHA) Lipa Pole Pole,” PS Mang’eni stated.
This new directive underscores the government’s push to foster financial discipline among youth borrowers. The Hustler Fund, launched in 2022 to offer affordable credit to individuals and small businesses, has struggled with widespread loan defaults despite initial enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Principal Secretaries from various ministries have been dispatched across counties to mobilize public support for the NYOTA project. The initiative targets to address unemployment by encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship, and self-reliance among the youth.
The government hopes that by enforcing repayment accountability, future empowerment programs like NYOTA will reach responsible and committed beneficiaries, ensuring long-term sustainability of public-funded initiatives.
