Browsing: microfinance

Parliament Uganda
  • Uganda Auditor-General says out of $27.7 million meant for SACCOs under the Emyooga programme only $21.8 million was disbursed.
  • Lawmakers say failure of Microfinance Support Centre staff to follow due diligence in loan disbursement was indicative of incompetence.
  • Parliament tasks MSC officials to detail the efforts put in place to ensure that the intended beneficiaries receive the funding.

A report by the Auditor-General has revealed that Uganda’s Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) failed to absorb a total of $5.87 million (USh21.2 billion) of the Emyooga grant during the 2021/22 financial year.

In his report to Parliament, the Auditor-General observed that out of $27.7 million meant for SACCOs under the Emyooga programme, only $21.8 million was disbursed.

In a meeting on July 25, with officials from the Microfinance Support Centre (MSC), legislators on the Public Accounts Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) queried the way the funds were used.

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This comes after the National Treasury exempted the digital lender from a law limiting individual shareholding in microfinance to 25 per cent.

In a gazette notice signed by the Cabinet Secretary National Treasury, Ukur Yatani, the San-Francisco based fintech has been exempted from Section 19 of the Microfinance Act (for 4 years through 2025).

Currently, individuals or single entities are barred from holding more than a 25 per cent stake in a microfinance institution.…

Fintech is expected to bridge Africa’s financing gap. The sector offers immense opportunities for entrepreneurs who are in-touch with customer needs which are evolving. www.theexchange.africa

Hennessy-Barrett adds that tackling the finance gap is going to take a combined effort from across the financial industry.

He says there is a need for partnerships that can complement one another.

“We are actively signing up as many partners as we can across the supply chain to support micro and small businesses. By linking small store holders, distributors, vendors and investors, we can work together to construct the framework for inclusion and growth with the digital connective tissue to build high growth, an integrated economy in African markets. 4G Capital is in an incredibly exciting position as we develop and deploy new products and capabilities to scale to the vast and growing markets in Africa and other global emerging markets,” he notes.…

Of recent times, microfinance has demonstrably become the most coveted solution to building a robust and efficient national economy that is inclusive of the low-income segment in both urban and rural areas.

The historically nascent level of microfinance services in Tanzania has prompted various non-government organization (domestic and foreign) and financial institutions to take up active roles in providing this service. Institutions such as the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), SEDA, PRIDE and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) are some of the active players to have taken up this role in the microfinance subsector. Meanwhile, larger financial institutions have also ventured into carrying out microfinance operations. Banks such as NMB and CRDB which was established in 1995 as a hybrid of a commercial and microfinance bank are key examples of this.

The exciting evolution ofmicrofinance can be traced from before 2000.

Before 2000

The microfinance movement, which is a…