Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration has set aside Sh100 million of its budget for a revolving fund dubbed “Biashara Fund” targeting small businesses that owned by women, people living with disabilities, and the youth within the 85 wards in the county.
This allocation is contained in the Sh42.3 billion 2023/2024 budget that was read by Nairobi County executive committee member (CEC) in charge of Finance and Economic Planning Charles Kericho.
The fund, which is akin to the Hustler Fund coordinated by the national government, will be a revolving fund that will be provided to those who own businesses within the county.
According to the Chief Officer for Trades and Markets Godfrey Akumali, the county has already identified a framework that will be used to identify those in need of the funds.
Traders will be applying for the fund to boost their businesses and will be required to pay back after a period of time.
“It is a revolving fund that is targeting the traders in Nairobi and we want to focus on the women and the youth because they are the ones who are doing business. We have also identified the persons living with disabilities as another target group,” Mr Akumali told Nation.Africa .
Mr Akumali also explained that the main reason for targeting these traders is that they do not need a lot of money for their businesses.
“There is a need for capital for these businesses. Instead of them depending on shylocks who often charge high-interest rates, we decided to give them the fund to boost their businesses. We are looking at it as a social investment in our women and youth. We want to empower them so that they can be in charge of their future and have the ability to grow their businesses,” he added.
The fund will be launched in different phases just like the one spearheaded by the national government.
“The only difference with the one at the national government is that ours will be targeting only those who own small businesses within the county. It is not open for everyone,” Mr Akumali added.
The traders will also be given financial literacy training and empowered with business skills before they are given the funds for their businesses. They will later be allocated stalls to carry out their businesses.
Mr Akumali also said the interest rate for the fund will be between 8 percent to 10 percent with a fixed repayment period of up to six months adding that the fund will be rolled out in the next few months.
