Proparco and the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation are supporting financial inclusion in Uganda

Uganda currently hosts 1.93 million refugees, marking it the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, with almost 600 new refugee arrivals per day recorded every day since the beginning of the year. Over half of these refugees are under the age of 18, coming mainly from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Proparco’s technical assistance project, supported by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, seeks to improve access to financial services for both refugees and host communities in Uganda.

To this end, Proparco has partnered with the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation to strengthen the Foundation’s initiative launched in 2019 with two microfinance institutions (MFIs), UGAFODE Microfinance Limited and VisionFund Uganda, in partnership with UNHCR. The first phase of the project has already enabled nearly 100,000 refugees and local residents to access tailored financial services, notably through the opening of branches in several refugee camps such as Nakivale, Kyangwali, Moyo, and Yumbe. This new phase, supported by Proparco, aims to strengthen the two MFIs’ capacity to develop innovative and inclusive products (particularly targeting women), to train both staff and clients, and to support the digitalization of services. 

This support from Proparco is part of a broader effort by the French Development Agency (AFD) Group to promote financial inclusion for refugees in the country. Since 2022, AFD has been working on this issue through the ReFine project, implemented by Mercy Corps in partnership with Ugafode, VisionFund, FINCA, as well asKiva and Cohere, to address structural barriers hindering refugees’ access to financial services. ReFine has enabled more than 2,000 refugees in Kampala and West Nile to benefit from financial and digital literacy training, entrepreneurial support, and access to affordable capital.

Jean Guyonnet-Dupérat, Regional Director at Proparco, said: "Supporting financial inclusion for refugees and host communities in Uganda is both a social necessity and an economic opportunity. With this project, nearly 25,000 clients will gain access to tailored financial services by 2027, showing that inclusive finance in fragile contexts can be viable and transformative. We are proud to work alongside the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Ugafode, VisionFund and UNHCR to turn this ambition into reality."

“UGAFODE is proud to partner with the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation and Proparco to advance financial inclusion among refugees and host communities. Through this collaboration, we continue to empower smallholder farmers and vulnerable groups to build resilience and sustainable livelihoods by providing access to savings, loans, money transfer services, and financial literacy — drawing on both our successes and lessons learned along the way.” said Shafi Nambobi, CEO of UGAFODE. 

“Grameen Credit Agricole is a partner of the French Development Financial Institution (DFI) Proparco to continue working on building inclusive sustainable market systems for refugees and host communities in Uganda”, says Hanadi Tutunji, Head of Technical Assistance at Grameen Crédit Agricole. “The new project aims to build on the successes and lessons from the field to support more access and usage of financial products by refugees and host communities. It also aims to strengthen the financial and digital capacities of the end clients so they can move into more complex financial products as their businesses continue to grow”. 

Mercy Sande, CEO at VisionFund Uganda, said “Financial inclusion is one of our key priorities as it aligns with our vision of impacting children. Therefore, as we serve the refugee and host community through innovative and inclusive products, we will certainly continue to broaden our impact in these communities”.