History

From starting to the present day!

---

The Eastern African economic area has enjoyed some of the fastest global economic growth rates in recent years. However, at the same time, its countries still have a high prevalence of poverty and lack of universal financial inclusion.  

In Eastern Africa, German Sparkassenstiftung (DSIK) did smaller interventions since the 1990’s and began its permanent activities in 2009. Since then, DSIK has founded the following partnerships in respective project countries:

• DSIK founded its first partnership in 2009 with the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), to professionalize the Rwandan microfinance sector. 
• In 2012, the project activities were extended to Burundi by the start of a partnership with the Burundian microfinance umbrella organization, Réseau des Institutions de Microfinance (RIM), with the aim of strengthening the professionalization of the microfinance sector in Burundi.  
• In the same year, operations in Tanzania were initiated, with the Tanzanian Association of Microfinance Institutions (TAMFI), as well as with the former Tanzania Postal Bank (TPB), now known as the TPB Bank PLC while single activities had already been conducted in the country before. 
• Also in 2012, DSIK supported the foundation of the Rwandan Institute for Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance (RICEM), an academy for vocational education in Rwanda. 
• Since 2015, DSIK has been working with the Governmental Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA), the main player in the digitalization and consolidation of the 416 small and independent Umurenge Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) into 30 larger district level SACCOs. 
• In 2017, DSIK enlarged its project portfolio in Tanzania and partnered with the Karagwe Rural Development and Environmental Conservation Agency (KARUDECA) in Tanzania to promote financial education in primary and secondary schools in the Karagwe region. This fruitful cooperation lasted until December 2019. 
• In the same year, DSIK in Tanzania started a partnership with Small Entrepreneurs Loan Facility Microfinance Fund Ltd. (SELF). 
• In 2018, DSIK started a new partnership with the Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission (TCDC) and in 2019, a new partnership was established with the Savings and Credit Co-operative Union League of Tanzania (SCCULT). 
• In Uganda, a financial education project was commenced at the end of 2018, in partnership with the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU) and Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union (UCSCU).  
• In 2019, DSIK started its activities in Kenya and partnered with the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Kenya (AMFI-K) and the African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA), whose headquarter is in Kenya.  
• In the same year, DSIK in Rwanda started a partnership with the Kigali Independent University (ULK) and in 2020, a partnership was initiated with the National Cooperative Confederation of Rwanda (NCCR), the only Rwandan umbrella organization for cooperatives. 
• In 2020, DSIK also established a partnership with the University of Burundi aimed at enhancing Burundian students' skills in financial literacy, financial management, microfinance, and entrepreneurship through capacity building and institutional strengthening.
• In 2021, DSIK established a partnership with the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services (UIBFS) to implement the Dual Apprenticeship System aimed at capacity development of the microfinance professionals.
• In 2024, DSIK began its operations in Ethiopia, with the aim to strengthen the Ethiopian microfinance sector.

To encourage synergies between existing project activities, institutionalize knowledge transfers and efficiently use human and technical resources, our project activities were previously organized in two regional projects.

The two regional projects were “Vocational and Commercial Education for the Microfinance Sector in Eastern Africa” and “Rural Development in Eastern Africa through Institution Strengthening of the Microfinance Sector”. Both projects, which commenced in October 2019, were implemented across all our project countries.  In 2023, the two regional projects were merged, retaining their topics but bundling them into one regional project named "Sustainable Transformation of the Financial Sector in Eastern Africa through Institutional Strengthening of the Microfinance Sector and Socio-ecological Transformation of the Economy with a Focus on Rural Development." This merger aimed to streamline efforts and amplify the overall impact of the projects.

Our green finance project “Améliorer l’accès des groupes d’épargne au microcrédit pour le financement des latrines agro-écologiques « Akasuga » in Burundi started in July 2019 and runned until October 2020.

In Uganda, we also implemented a project aimed at enhancing financial and business skills for small-scale entrepreneurs in the West Nile region from September 2021 to the end of February 2022.

In 2023, DSIK ran another one-year project for women in Burundi "Income-Generating Measures and Social Cohesion for Women Involved in Informal Trade."

From October 2023, DSIK is currently implementing a consortium project in Burundi “Soutien à l'Entrepreneuriat du Secteur Agricole au Burundi – SESA Isoko Irama” in collaboration with AVSI Foundation, Burundi Business Incubator (BBIN), and the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

In 2023 and 2024, DSIK in Rwanda and its local partner RICEM started implementing additional projects. The first, commencing in July 2023, aimed at empowering youth and women entrepreneurs in Rusizi district. Simultaneously, another project was introduced to provide support to existing Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Rubavu and Rusizi districts. Building on these efforts, a new project was initiated in April 2024 to extend support to existing MSEs in the districts of Karongi, Rutsiro, and Nyamasheke. These projects were concluded in 2025.

In 2024, “Business Skills Development for Returning Victims of Human Trafficking” is another project that was successfully implemented to address the challenges faced by returning victims of trafficking (VoTs) and vulnerable migrants in the Horn of Africa with beneficiaries from Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda. It concluded in February 2025.

In 2024, DSIK conducted a research project in Tanzania to examine the effects of the mobile money tax on Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs). The findings were published by November 2024.

In early 2025, DSIK in Rwanda began the Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE) project, under the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition,” running until May 2026.

If you would like to know more about our projects and partners in Eastern Africa, please feel free to check out the section of “Projects” and “Partners”.