Linking refugees in Uganda to formal financial services

Kuria Wanjau

Project Manager, Fragile Communities and States

The financial inclusion for refugees (FI4R) project is jointly supported by FSD Uganda and BFA Global; we are working with our partners Equity Bank Uganda, VisionFund Uganda and Rural Finance Initiative to offer financial services to refugees in Uganda.

BFA Global undertook a baseline on the financial lives of refugees in January 2020. This laid the foundation for 4 rounds of financial diaries collection. The first round of data collection was carried out in September 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic so most interviews were done over the phone. These are some of the insights that were uncovered in this round of diaries:

  • The financial instruments used by refugees
  • The positive impact of savings groups
  • Use of the debit card as collateral

This blog by our partners at BFA further highlights and outlines some of the financial services that our partner financial service providers are offering to refugees.

Look out for insights from the next 3 rounds of diaries – watch this space for more!