President William Ruto has announced that 4 million Kenyans who have been blacklisted for loan defaults will be removed from the negative list by November 1.
Speaking on Wednesday, September 28, at a joint press conference held by Safaricom, KCB, and NCBA Bank, Dr. Ruto stated that his government is not opposed to credit reference bureaus (CRBs), adding that they are “just changing the model.”
“Instead of blacklisting we can have a graduated listing of borrowers based on how they have borrowed and how they have paid back,” he said.
“This is a positive development for millions of Kenyans who are excluded from accessing credit. We have the largest opportunity in enabling credit access to MSMEs.”
However, the president stated that he was not opposed to credit listing platforms and stated that they would collaborate to develop a platform that benefits all stakeholders.
“The government is not against credit listing In fact we support CRBs as a mechanism. What we are asking is we don’t want credit listing to be all-or-nothing. We want it to be a platform where everyone is doing their best. Instead of people being in or out there is a credit rank where people can rise,” he stated.
“Instead of blacklisting, we can have a graduated mechanism. That happens even when we borrow money from IMF so it is a positive development for Kenyans,” he added.
The head of state also lauded Safaricom’s move to offer up to a 40 percent discount for all Fuliza services.
“We have agreed and I’m happy that the CEO of Safaricom has announced here that access to Fuliza the interest rate will come down by 50 percent. That is a step in the right direction and many people will benefit from this step and I’m confident we can do more,” President Ruto said.
Ruto also asked Safaricom to find ways to meet the demands of long-term borrowers, as Fuliza is exclusively benefitting only short-term borrowers.
“Fuliza is addressing a certain category of borrowers on a short term. You need to think about other instruments and other facilities that should be able to take care of long term borrowers,” the President added.
