Organisation
German Sparkassenstiftung Eastern Africa operates within the framework of the German Sparkassenstiftung Head Office in Bonn, Germany.
We are experienced consultants and partners for the microfinance sector in Eastern Africa. Based on the expertise of German Sparkassen Finance Group, we support building the capacity of our partner institutions to become self-sustainable and professional organizations, thus, assisting them to enhance economic opportunities of the poor. Together, we strive to improve Eastern Africa's lives by sustainably promoting financial and vocational education.
In Eastern Africa, German Sparkassenstiftung (DSIK) maintains offices in Ngozi/Burundi, Addis Ababa/Ethiopia, Nairobi/Kenya, Kigali/Rwanda, Dar es Salaam/Tanzania and Kampala /Uganda. The regional office of DSIK Eastern Africa is in Kigali/Rwanda.
DSIK has been involved in the institutional strengthening of the microfinance sector in Eastern Africa since 2009 - initially in Rwanda, since 2012 also in Burundi and Tanzania. The activities were consolidated for the first time in 2014 when individual projects were merged into the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) funded regional project “Vocational Training and Strengthening the Microfinance Sector in East Africa”. In the meantime, two further BMZ-funded individual projects had been started in Rwanda "Restructuring the Umurenge SACCO sector and establishing a cooperative bank") and Uganda "Strengthening financial education and the microfinance sector in Uganda", which were carried out in parallel with the regional project. The content of these projects was focused on financial education of the population, especially customers and members of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) / Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs), vocational training for employees and managers of MFIs / SACCOs and institutional strengthening of partner organizations and MFIs / SACCOs.
During the project activities, the focus shifted from rather limited, singular interventions to holistic packages of measures. Furthermore, the needs of the partners became increasingly complex as the microfinance sector developed. That is why our project activities were merged again in 2019 and organized in two regional projects “Vocational and Commercial Education for the Microfinance Sector in Eastern Africa” and “Rural Development in Eastern Africa through Institution Strengthening of the Microfinance Sector”.
In 2023, the two regional projects were merged, retaining their topics but bundling them into one regional project "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," still financed by the BMZ. The merger aimed to streamline efforts and enhance the impact of the projects. This regional project was successfully completed in Burundi in October 2024 and simultaneously started in Ethiopia. Currently, the regional project is being implemented in five countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Beyond the regional projects, DSIK implements several country specific projects. Between July 2019 and October 2020, DSIK implemented a project in Burundi “Améliorer l’accès des groupes d’épargne au microcrédit pour le financement des latrines agro-écologiques ‹Akasuga›”, funded by the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ). With that project we provided savings training for households which bought the components of an ecological latrine through receiving a loan from a Microfinance Institution. Additionally, we provided consultancy for lending MFIs and worked with Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) to connect them closer to the formal financial sector.
In 2023, DSIK ran another one-year project "Income-Generating Measures and Social Cohesion for Women Involved in Informal Trade", funded by the Development Cooperation Foundation of Baden-Württemberg in Germany (SEZ). The project targeted women engaged in informal trade in Bujumbura City, aiming to formalize their businesses, enhance entrepreneurial skills, improve access to formal financial services, and foster social cohesion. By promoting economic and social inclusion, the project directly benefited 153 women and their spouses.
DSIK in Burundi is currently involved in a project “Soutien à l'Entrepreneuriat du Secteur Agricole au Burundi – SESA Isoko Irama,” funded by the European Union. This project is being implemented by a consortium of four organizations: AVSI Foundation, Burundi Business Incubator (BBIN), International Rescue Committee (IRC), and DSIK. The project focuses on enhancing the economic situation of agricultural producers from vulnerable groups in the provinces of Ngozi, Kayanza, and Bujumbura, with the potential for expansion into additional regions. DSIK’s role in the consortium is centered around improving access to finance for agricultural producers. This includes managing a loan fund provided by the consortium partner AVSI.
“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. The project focused on equipping participants with entrepreneurial and financial literacy skills through the Micro Business Simulation Game, a practical and interactive training tool. Over the course of the project, 310 participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda benefited from this project, and it was concluded in February 2025.
In Rwanda, DSIK and its local partner, the Rwanda Institute of Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance (RICEM), were awarded multiple projects by Enabel, the Belgian Agency for International Cooperation, which were funded by the Kingdom of Belgium. The first project initiated in July 2023 focused on empowering youth and women start-ups in Rusizi district. Concurrently, another project was launched to support existing Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Rubavu and Rusizi districts. Additionally, in April 2024, a new project aimed at supporting existing MSEs in the Karongi, Rutsiro, and Nyamasheke districts was also started. Across these projects, DSIK and RICEM carried out Business Development Services (BDS), which provided training, coaching, and mentoring to the target groups. Our interventions focused on key areas such as general entrepreneurship, business management, access to finance, and access to markets.
Currently in Rwanda, DSIK is implementing the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) project, part of the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition” funded by BMZ. The project is led by GIZ in collaboration with Rwanda’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM). It aims to enhance women's economic participation, improve their working conditions, and strengthen the performance of women-led businesses. Within this initiative, DSIK is specifically tasked with improving the positioning of women-led businesses within the economic and social landscape.
In Tanzania, DSIK implemented a research project that delved into the implications of Tanzania’s mobile money tax on Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs). This project was funded by the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) under the DIGITAX Research Programme, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. By November 2024, the project culminated in the publication of findings that provided evidence-based recommendations to policymakers. These insights aimed to strike a balance between taxation measures and the imperative of financial inclusion.
In Uganda, we also implemented another 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. Funded by GIZ, we successfully trained 65 MSMEs in Entrepreneurship and Business Development Skills and provided Strategic and Financial Planning training to 36 SMEs, helping them elevate their operational capacities and strategic growth.
If you would like to know more about our history and donors in Eastern Africa, please feel free to check out the section of “History” and “Donors”.
