The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) recently announced a set of partnerships to boost financial inclusion in the Northern and West Nile regions of Uganda. UNCDF will work with mobile network operators Airtel and MTN to increase mobile phone usage in rural communities. It also will collaborate with agricultural technology (agritech) firms, Ensibuuko Tech Limited and Mobipay Agrosys Limited, to increase the “last-mile” distribution of digital financial services as well as to increase financial and digital literacy.
Founded in 2014, Ensibuuko offers cloud-based software for small financial entities in Africa. It has raised USD 520,000 over four founding rounds. Founded in 2016, Mobipay Agrosys uses a cloud-based model to monitor agricultural data. It provides this data and payment services to 100,000 farmers.
Airtel Uganda, which was launched in 2010 is a subsidiary of India’s Bharti Airtel and has 10 million subscribers. MTN Uganda, which has 12.6 million subscribers, is a member of South Africa’s MTN Group.
These partnerships are part of Leaving No One Behind in the Digital Era, a program launched in 2019 by UNCDF with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The program’s goal is to empower 1 million Ugandans to use digital services by 2024.
SIDA, Sweden’s government agency for reducing poverty in developing countries, distributed SEK 42.3 billion (USD 4.27 billion) during 2019.
UNCDF promotes “financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small businesses to…climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives” as well as demonstrating “how localized investments – through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance – can [support] local economic expansion and sustainable development.” During 2018, the organization took in donations of USD 69 million, operating in 40 countries in Africa and Asia. As part of this work, UNCDF supported financial services providers that have a total of 32 million customers.
By Ng Chee Meng, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
UNCDF press release
https://www.uncdf.org/article/5451/uncdf-partners-with-private-sector-players-to-reach-the-last-mile-with-digital-services
UNCDF press release on launch of “Leaving No One Behind in the Digital Era” campaign
https://www.uncdf.org/article/4567/uncdf-launches-digital-economy-strategy-leaving-no-one-behind-in-the-digital-era
UNCDF homepage
https://www.uncdf.org/
Sida homepage
https://www.sida.se/English/About-us/About-Sida/
Airtel Uganda 2016 profit analysis
https://www.independent.co.ug/airtel-uganda-records-shs-160bn-net-profit/
Airtel Uganda Linkedin page
https://www.linkedin.com/company/airtel-uganda/about/
MTN Uganda 2019 profit analysis
https://ugbusiness.com/8498/mtn-uganda-2019-full-year-results
Crunchbase page on Ensibuuko
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ensibuuko#section-lists-featuring-this-company
Mobipay Agrosys Limited homepage
https://www.mobipayagrosys.com/about/
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