UNCDF’s digital reach outpaced its lending
The Connect Rural Uganda programme ran from 2019 to 2025 under UNCDF's global Leaving No One Behind in the Digital Era (LNOB) strategy, funded by Sweden's development agency Sida.
Village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) groups were supported in digitising their V records and transactions. (Photo generated using AI)
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The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has closed its five-year digital inclusion programme in Uganda that registered 3.4 million people on digital services.
The Connect Rural Uganda programme ran from 2019 to 2025 under UNCDF's global Leaving No One Behind in the Digital Era (LNOB) strategy, funded by Sweden's development agency Sida.
Speaking during the report presentation at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, officials said the programme targeted rural Ugandans, particularly women, youth, refugees and small businesses shut out of formal lenders because of informal record-keeping, thin transaction histories and lack of collateral, despite real economic activity.
“The closure of a program should not mean the end of its impact. The real test of these five years is whether the solutions, partnerships, and lessons we have built can continue and scale,” Olawale Ajayi, country director at UNCDF, said.
“Second, reaching the last-mile requires partnerships. The government provides leadership and the enabling environment. The private sector brings innovation and skill. Development partners can help reduce risk and demonstrate what is possible.”
A 2026 UNCDF study put rural smartphone ownership at 10 per cent, against 34 per cent in urban areas; recent internet use was 5.9 per cent and 22.9 per cent respectively.
Salama Drichiru in Yumbe said the digital economy arrived through the familiar business of women saving together and trying to turn small contributions into something larger.
She said Ensibuuko, a fintech firm, supported their group to move from paper records to its Chomoka platform. Overall, Ensibuuko digitised transaction records from more than 11,000 village savings and loan associations (VSLAs), converting informal group savings and repayment history into data formal lenders could assess remotely.
“Some areas do not have internet because our telecom companies do not reach. And there is no internet; it is hard to use the system,” he said.
Quest Digital Finance chief executive Jean Onyait said his firm digitised 68,000 people, but only 21,000 used its services. “Digitisation itself does not give value to the people,” he said.
UNDP deputy resident representative Ian King said the deeper test was whether markets began treating underserved communities differently.
“Closing the digital divide cannot be achieved by one institution or one sector. It requires sustained collaboration between government, development partners, including the UN, the private sector, and most importantly, the communities we seek to serve,” he said.
“We are a model that provides a viable approach. We seek to crowd in other sources of capital and enable solutions to move beyond the life of the development program. So, I say that UNCDF, amongst the UN agencies, is quite unique in what it can do.”