Financial Lives of Refugees in Uganda

This fact sheet presents highlights from the endline survey of the Financial Inclusion for Refugees Project (FI4R), conducted by FSD Uganda and FSD Africa. The project aimed to support financial service providers in offering services to refugees and host communities in Uganda, utilizing financial diaries to track livelihood strategies and the impact of new financial products between Q1 2020 (baseline) and Q4 2021 (endline).

• Non-employment income, which includes in-kind assistance as well as cash and voucher assistance, is the primary source of income for refugees.
• There has been an increase in the use of certain financial instruments among refugees, specifically mobile money, savings groups, and keeping cash at home.
• Mobile phone ownership and access among refugees increased from 73% at the baseline to 81% at the endline.
• The project collaborated with three implementing partners to provide specific financial products: Equity Bank Uganda Limited provided bank accounts for humanitarian aid and merchant digital payment acceptance; VisionFund Uganda piloted a wholesale credit model for savings groups in the West Nile region; and the Rural Finance Initiative offered VSLA loans, youth loans, and a digital records tool called Ledger Link.

APA

FSD Africa (2022). Financial Lives of Refugees in Uganda. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/INFOGRAPHIC-Financial-Lives-of-Refugees-in-Uganda_Highlights-of-the-Endline-Survey_January-2022.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. Financial Lives of Refugees in Uganda. 2022. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/INFOGRAPHIC-Financial-Lives-of-Refugees-in-Uganda_Highlights-of-the-Endline-Survey_January-2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=Financial Lives of Refugees in Uganda |date=January 2022 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/INFOGRAPHIC-Financial-Lives-of-Refugees-in-Uganda_Highlights-of-the-Endline-Survey_January-2022.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafrica2022financial, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{Financial Lives of Refugees in Uganda}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/INFOGRAPHIC-Financial-Lives-of-Refugees-in-Uganda_Highlights-of-the-Endline-Survey_January-2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }