Gov’t, private sector commit to accelerating financial inclusion

Key stakeholders of the Ugandan financial ecosystem have pledged to put in more efforts and concrete steps to boost financial inclusion in the country.

The signatories of this call to action and initiative of the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) and its programme for financial inclusion, Scale2Save include Uganda Bankers Association (UBA), Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSDU), Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU), Financial Technologies Service Providers Association (FITSPA), and the Mastercard Foundation.

“We are ready to work with all stakeholders to demonstrate the commitment of the industry, particularly in times of shocks. We are also ready to continue making contributions to the empowerment of low-income customers to seize economic opportunities, build resilience and, ultimately, have a better life,” the signatories said in the joint commitment.

This commitment was announced at the end of a two-day Scale2Save event in Kampala under the theme,  ‘Building resilience and economic empowerment for women and youth’ which brought together some 100 participants.

Both the event and the call to action focused on the key drivers of financial inclusion such as customer-centricity, the potential of digital finance and sustainable business models.

“When you consider these observations about our lived reality, you start to see the imbalance that Scale2Save is attempting to address here today. This extent of financial exclusion of women and the youth tantamounts  to trying to balance a three-legged stool on one leg. This is unsustainable in a country that is working towards socio-economic transformation,” said Michael Atingi-Ego, the Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor.

“I am pleased to participate in this event because the Bank of Uganda shares the objective of democratising access to and empowering the users of financial services, not least by championing the national financial inclusion strategy, and through our strategic plan and operations. But like the multilegged stool, it will take the contribution of all stakeholders and partners to bring about universal financial inclusion.”

Scale2Save is a six-year programme working six African countries including Uganda, where it partners with Centenary Bank, FINCA Uganda and BRAC Uganda Bank.

Weselina Angelow , the  Scale2Save Programme Director during the event  presented some of the key lessons learned during the last years implementing financial inclusion initiatives in Uganda.