Recovery lending for Resilience in Uganda
Recovery lending for Resilience in Uganda
Uganda has been one of the hardest hit countries in Africa due to the severity of the lockdown imposed, with many businesses closed down completely. Top-up loans and fresh loans are helping our clients get back on their feet, with innovative Savings Group lending ensuring larger loans are available for those who need them.
Recovery Lending in Uganda
In October 2020, USD$500,000 from the Recovery Lending for Resilience program was released to VisionFund Uganda, so that their clients could begin the recovery process for their closed-down businesses. For clients with existing loans, top-up loans are enabling them to borrow additional amounts to use as working capital, so their recovery process can begin faster.
VisionFund Uganda prides itself on its excellent customer care, and in FY21, the MFI will be focused on surveying clients to better understand their needs, and tailoring their recovery products to better suit the recovery process.
Recovery Savings in Uganda
VisionFund Uganda piloted an innovative program that was lending into savings groups that require additional capital on top of what they can raise through their internal resources. The lessons learnt from this pilot with the refugee population in Northern Uganda, are shaping the scale up of the savings group lending approach now being rolled out across many other countries.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, groups have found ways to continue to meet in smaller groups and have also continued to save regularly, even if less than before. VisionFund Uganda is working with World Vision and other NGOs to link to mature saving groups for a loan and we are already seeing groups coming back for loans, even increasing loan sizes.
Digitisation in Uganda
Uganda has a fully functioning mobile money integration, and now disburses and accepts repayments via mobile money only. Mobile money means that clients do not have to travel to a physical branch to access credit, and VisionFund loan officers can support our clients during lockdown restrictions and other travel barriers.
VisionFund Uganda has been allocated $50,000 from the Recovery Lending for Resilience program to replace the integration from the VisionFund Uganda mobile banking system to a recognised mobile provider, to reduce costs for customers.
Empowered Worldview in Uganda
Empowered Worldview gives our clients an understanding and acknowledgment that we are created in the image of God and are invited to participate in what God is doing in the world, particularly during this time of recovery in the aftermath of COVID-19.
Recovery Lending for Resilience funding has enabled VisionFund Uganda to hire a Transformational Impact Manager who will lead training and program development in Empowered Worldview, and to embed this approach and the love of Christ into the DNA of our operations.