Restoring Financial Trustworthiness: Inclusion Project for FDPs

The Financial Inclusion for Refugees (FI4R) project, launched in 2019 by FSD Africa in partnership with FSD Uganda, Access to Finance Rwanda, and BFA Global, aims to provide financial services to forcibly displaced people (FDPs) and host communities. The project focuses on overcoming barriers such as insufficient documentation and perceived risk to enable refugees to access loans, savings, and digital payments.

• The FI4R project established specific targets to increase financial access for refugees, aiming for over 100,000 refugees to access financial services via mobile phones and over 300,000 to receive extended financial services, including loans for businesses, farmers, and entrepreneurs to drive job creation.
• In Uganda, the project supported three financial service providers: Equity Bank Uganda Limited (EBUL), Vision Fund Uganda (VFU), and Rural Finance Initiative (RUFI). Key outcomes included over 26,300 customers (60% women) accessing loans through VFU and RUFI, with cumulative loan values reaching £1.9 million ($2.25 million). Equity Bank Uganda registered over 93,300 households on its digital platform, with 65,484 households receiving digital payments, totaling UGX 10.8 Bn (£2.2m) in Q1 2022 via eight humanitarian agencies.
• In Rwanda, Equity Bank Rwanda opened 57,000 accounts for refugees, 25,000 of which held savings totaling GBP 1.07m. The bank also facilitated 66,000 remittance transactions with a total value of GBP 1.7m.
• The project addressed systemic barriers in Uganda, such as strict government policies that previously prohibited refugees from using IDs to open bank or mobile money accounts. Updated regulations now allow over 600,000 refugees who hold attestation letters from the Office of the Prime Minister, but lack government-issued refugee IDs, to legally access mobile-enabled services in their own names.
• Financial behavior and economic status among FDPs in Ugandan refugee camps improved during the project. Enrollment in Accumulating Saving & Credit Associations (ASCAs) rose from 35% to 46%, and an end-of-project survey found that individuals had an average of three income sources, including agricultural income, rental income, casual employment, self-employment, and grants.

APA

FSD Africa (n.d.). Restoring Financial Trustworthiness: Inclusion Project for FDPs. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSD-Africa-FI4R-20.03.24.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. Restoring Financial Trustworthiness: Inclusion Project for FDPs. n.d. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSD-Africa-FI4R-20.03.24.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=Restoring Financial Trustworthiness: Inclusion Project for FDPs |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSD-Africa-FI4R-20.03.24.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafricandrestoring, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{Restoring Financial Trustworthiness: Inclusion Project for FDPs}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FSD-Africa-FI4R-20.03.24.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }