Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSDU) and Financial Sector Deepening Africa in partnership with Bankable Frontier Associates (BFA) have launched a new project to bolster financial inclusion among refugees in Uganda.
The Financial Inclusion for Refugees Project (FI4R) aims at supporting financial service providers (FSPs) to offer financial services to refugees and host communities.
Uganda hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world with approximately 1.4 million refugees settled in urban centres and 28 refugee settlements across the country.
During the launch of the project on Tuesday in Kampala, Ms Juliet Tumuzoire, the Head of Financial Services, FSDU said over the years, refugees and host communities have been lagging behind when it comes to financial inclusion.
“According to the FinScope report 2018, overall financial inclusion stood at 78 per cent for adult men and 77 per cent for adult females in Uganda. In contrast, only 13 per cent of refugees surveyed in Bidi Bidi Refugee settlement recently were able to access formal credit, with most of them depending on informal groups, which have their limitations, to meet their financial needs,” she said.
“With FI4R we are working with implementing partners such as Equity Bank, VisionFund Uganda and Rural Focus Initiative Uganda [RUFI] to develop products. We also have our learning partner with a purpose to understand the lifestyle and behavior of refugees so that so that the products that we have produced are specific to their lifestyle and be able to build then so that we can not only give them access but they are also able to use them.”
Ms Tumuzoire further revealed that out of the 28 refugee settlements they are going to first concentrate on five settlements for two years with a target of financially including 200,000 users.
Mr Simon Gerald Menhya, the Acting Commissioner for Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister disclosed that the government of Uganda was keen to support projects like FI4R as a sustainable solution to strengthening the resilience of refugees and their host communities.
He said the project will also create additional livelihood opportunities, which are critical to finding long term solutions to the challenges they face.
“The challenges that governments throughout the world are dealing with when responding to humanitarian crises are evolving very quickly. While provision of basic aid remains important, enabling refugees to access relevant services, including formal financial services, has the potential to help coordinate humanitarian efforts more effectively and increase the impact of early stage interventions.
Meanwhile, FSD Uganda and FSD Africa will be providing funding and technical assistance to implementing partners to enable them launch innovative projects which will create efficiency in humanitarian payments and provide relevant formal financial services to refugee settlements in the West Nile region and Isingiro District.
Mr Anthony Kituuka, the Executive Director at Equity Bank Uganda said they have been engaging refugees over the years to ensure that they have the best livelihoods through providing financial services.
“We have been having branches in Adjumani, Arua and near Isingiro but now with FSD support we are going to set up banking agents in various settlements to stimulate refugees’ economic activity and increase their take-home incomes,” said Mr Kituuka.
Mr Yengi Lokule, the CEO, RUFI appreciated FSDU for bringing them on board to change the lives of refugees in Uganda.
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