Kenyans save Sh626m in Hustler Fund from pockets

It said voluntary savings between July and September alone totaled Sh84.6 million, citing high interest and assurance of withdrawals as the main attraction.

“As of today, the money that Kenyans have saved voluntarily in the Hustler Fund is Sh626,196,530 million. This is proof that Kenyans who did not have a place they would trust and save are now using the fund,” said MSME Development Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni.

This means that 13.5 of the total voluntary savings were injected in three months alone, between July and September 2025.

The state department says some of the people putting money in Hustler have not borrowed indicating that they signed up to the fund for saving purposes.

“There are Kenyans who are saving and not borrowing. Once you have registered on Hustler Fund and you want to save. You don’t have to necessarily borrow. You just save,” Ms Mang’eni says.

Voluntary savings is an option the government rolled out on the Hustler Fund to beef up the kitty, on top of mandatory savings deducted from loans Kenyans borrow from the kitty.

When a person borrows, five percent of the loan is deducted and credited to the savings fund. About 70 percent of the deduction is locked as long-term savings and is inaccessible, but borrowers can withdraw 30 percent of the amount.

The state department says it negotiated with banks holding the savings to pay a return equivalent to three points below the Treasury Bills rate at the time of investment, to assure savers good interest.

This means that if the T-Bill rate at the time of investment is 10 percent, savers get seven percent interest on the savings.

The Treasury Bills formula is, however, a stopgap measure as the government works out on establishing the Kenya National Saving Trust that will eventually manage Hustler Fund savings.

“As we finalize those processes, we negotiated with the service providers, the banks who are the custodian of the savings, that they offer returns at the rate of the T-bill minus 3,” the PS said.

While some Kenyans are saving on the fund voluntarily, others have been withdrawing the 30 percent portion of deductions from loans they borrow, with data from the state department showing that they have withdrawn about Sh980 million.

This leaves about Sh274 million of the withdrawable mandatory savings in the kitty, indicating that borrowers struggling financially opted to liquidate 78 percent of the savings they could access.

A number of borrowers moved Sh62.8 million of their savings from the accessible short-term kitty to the long-term kitty, where withdrawals are not allowed.

The platform allows users to withdraw all of the voluntary savings and 30 percent of the mandatory savings, but the withdrawals have been concentrated in the latter, data from the state department shows.

The state department, however, says the ability by Kenyans to withdraw the cash sold confidence to the market on the fund’s saving kitty as a reliable option where savers can access their cash without struggles associated with retirement schemes, and drove more voluntary savings.

“The fact that people can withdraw their short-term saving at ease in itself has also addressed the flexibility that has been a challenge in that space because people have been fearing.

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