The National Government has cut budget for agencies that provide cheap credit to youth and women. Affected agencies include Women Enterprise Fund, Uwezo Fund, Youth Enterprise Development (YEDF) and the Hustler Fund.
A report by the Controller of Budget indicates that the National Treasury did not provide loans in the three months to end of September 2024.
The YEDF was incepted in 2007 and was expected to extend Ksh 9.5 billion loans until when the programme ends in 2030; the government has only released Ksh 4.88 billion by end of September 2024.
The CoB indicates that the State Department for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy has budgetary challenges affecting progress. Lack of funding was witnessed after the department budget was slashed from Ksh 4.05 billion to Ksh 3.44 billion.
The Women Enterprise Fund which was created in 2007 also had no funding during the quarter, the fund was meant for women groups. Since its inception only Ksh 5.6 billion of the planned Ksh 13 billion has been loaned out.
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The Uwezo Fund was also affected as the state department for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) budget was cut by Ksh 3 billion.
The government only funded the Financial Inclusion/Hustler Fund at Ksh 1 billion during the quarter; this was loaned out to Kenyans and SME owners. The government has only loaned out Ksh 12.25 billion out of Ksh 50 billion it had planned to loan out.
By Obegi Malack
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