Financial technology experts say Ugandan startups must focus on real customer needs and scalable digital solutions if they are to survive and grow in an increasingly regulated market.
The call was made during a closed-door engagement with young founders at Design Hub Kampala, organised in partnership with Innovation Village under its Growth Unfiltered platform.
The session followed NALA’s announcement earlier in the day that it had secured Payment Service Provider and Payment System Operator licences from the Bank of Uganda, strengthening its position within Uganda’s regulated payments sector.
Addressing participants, NALA founder and chief executive officer Benjamin Fernandes warned that many startups fail by prioritising ideas over proven customer demand.
“Talking to customers is the most important thing when building any company,” he said. “Ideas on their own don’t matter. What matters is whether you are solving a real problem and whether customers are willing to pay for that solution.”
He urged founders to adopt software-driven models that can scale faster and deliver solutions more efficiently than traditional brick-and-mortar approaches.
Innovation Village executive director Rita Ngenzi said the Growth Unfiltered series is designed to provide founders with practical, unfiltered insights into entrepreneurship beyond success stories.
“Growth Unfiltered is a platform where we unfiltered what being a founder is — the realities, the tough decisions, and the growth pains,” Ngenzi said, noting that one participant secured investment during the session.
NALA now holds three active licences in Uganda, placing the fintech among a small group of firms authorised to operate within the country’s payments infrastructure.
