Support for the financing of MSMEs contributing to entrepreneurship, women and young people in Uganda

Dominated by large multinational groups, Uganda's banking sector comprises 25 commercial banks, 5 credit institutions, 4 deposit-taking microfinance institutions (MFIs) and 210 financial institutions, mainly MFIs and cooperatives, not supervised by the Bank of Uganda (BoU).

The Ugandan financial sector has developed rapidly over the past two decades, but is still lagging behind due to limited competition and a lack of innovation in the financial tools on offer. To limit the impact of the health crisis, the BoU has adopted a number of measures to facilitate access to credit, loan restructuring and ensure the sector's liquidity.

The aim of the project is to provide Ugandan SMEs with access to loans tailored to their needs/constraints, and to improve access to financial services for vulnerable populations, particularly women entrepreneurs and young people.  

This project will support Pride Microfinance, the leading public microfinance deposit and credit institution (MDI), regulated and supervised by the Central Bank of Uganda (BoU), in developing its financing offer in favor of very small, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Through the collaboration, Pride Microfinance will provide access to innovative financial solutions for economically vulnerable people and support economic recovery by targeting the most fragile populations and those most affected by the health crisis.

The project will also provide technical assistance to increase the financial literacy for 1000 youth and women entrepreneurs.

• Pride will contribute to providing adequate financing for populations currently excluded from traditional financial systems, around 5,000 people per year
• Through the program, Pride will serve 18% additional SMEs per year over the next 5 years (including +15% young entrepreneurs, and 30% women entrepreneurs)
• The success of this project could have a knock-on effect on the rest of the banking sector, encouraging the development of similar offers, particularly for the benefit of women and young people.