On September 29, Kenya’s president, William Ruto, gave his inaugural address to parliament following a controversial election victory.

Reiterating themes from his campaign, Ruto stressed that he would dedicate his time in office to helping the traders, hawkers, hairdressers, vendors, and other small entrepreneurs that make up what he has called his “hustler nation.” The slogan of Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance, whose symbol is a day laborer’s wheelbarrow, is Kazi ni Kazi — “every hustle matters.”

This celebrating of the every-man hustler is tied to a proposed expansion of Kenya’s financial sector, which Ruto has sought to bolster through deregulation. A new privatization scheme, too, would allow his government to list up to ten state-owned enterprises on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.