Our team in Uganda
Get to know the great people working for us in Uganda.
A portrait of Uganda
Uganda has a population of 42 million people and enjoys a unique location along the equator, in the heart of Sub-Saharan Africa within the East African region. The unique climate conditions lay the foundation for its biggest sector: agriculture which provides jobs for more than 80 per cent of the workforce, making it the single most important source of income.
The majority of Uganda’s adult population engages in entrepreneurial activity to the extent that the country was recently ranked one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world. Yet, only a few of the businesses created are surviving and even fewer are thriving.
The economy is generally stable, with inflation averaging 6.3% and GDP per capital is USD 878 in FY 2018/2019.
In Uganda, 78% of adults are financially included through formal institutions. This is due to the improved access to financial services through new technologies like mobile banking and mobile money, broadening the scope of credit offices and other non-banks such as utilities and mobile money service providers, allowing for Microfinance Deposit-taking Institutions (MDIs) to engage in agency banking, the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority (UMRA) and improving the competitive framework for mobile money via interoperable clearing and settlement mechanisms. However, around 22% of the population in Uganda is still financially excluded from the formal sector.
Uganda’s vision behind financial inclusion is not just having more people with accounts who are making transfers and are getting loans; it is rather centered around reducing poverty and enhancing the economic security of families through the usage of affordable financial services. This however is constrained by the quality of financial services as well as financial literacy.
Our vision and activities
German Sparkassenstiftung started its activities in Uganda at the end of 2018, with its head office in Kampala district and a coordination office in Arua.
In Uganda, we work in partnership with the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU), Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union (UCSCU), apex bodies for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in Uganda, respectively and the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services. We aim for financial inclusion of the marginalized population in the central and West Nile regions of Uganda. To date, our main activities are: Financial education, savings mobilization, capacity building, partner institutional strengthening, digitalisation of MFI and SACCO sectors, Business Hub setup and the rolling out of the Dual Aprrenticeship system. Our project area covers the central region (2 districts) and West Nile region (10 districts).
