Fintech
CARE invests in Ugandan Fintech Ensibuuko to promote women’s financial inclusion
June 21, 2024 – TREATMENT is pleased to announce a strategic partnership and investment in Ensibuuko, a fintech company based in Uganda. The investment, mediated by CARE social initiatives, will significantly expand efforts to ensure women and girls have the digital and financial access they need to thrive in today’s world. Through this partnership, Ensibuuko will acquire ownership of CARE Chomoka application, a digital solution for savings groups and expand collaboration with CARE teams across Africa.
Like CARE, Ensibuuko believes that digital products like Chomoka have the greatest potential to help savings groups and their members (most of whom are women) build financial independence. Ensibuuko currently supports a network of 7,500 digital savings groups in Uganda and Malawi. In 2022, Ensibuuko acquired a microfinance banking license in Uganda and now offers digital loans and payments to savings groups and their members.
“We are convinced that Ensibuuko is the right partner for CARE. This partnership was the result of an extensive evaluation of CARE’s growth paths for Chomoka in late 2023. Combining Chomoka’s user-centric design, Ensibuuko’s proven business model, and CARE’s VSLA network of million people, this partnership has the potential to unlock access to finance and digital inclusion for an unprecedented number of savings groups and underserved communities,” he said Christian Pennotti, founder of Chomoka and CEO of CARE for the Women in the Digital Economy Fund project.
Initially developed to help members of CARE-supported Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA), Chomoka enables users to streamline the management of VSLA savings groups and develop digital skills. Chomoka was part of a collaboration between CARE, Tanzanian tech company IPF Softwares, and San Francisco-based Exygy, which ultimately led to a solution serving more than 80,000 users in five countries.
“The collaboration with CARE is monumental for the savings group industry,” he notes Gerald Otim, founder and CEO of Ensibuuko. “CARE is a global leader in creating and developing savings group networks. The timing of this collaboration is perfect: Ensibuuko is embarking on a journey to provide digital products to millions of customers operating in savings groups. We have also added critical services to our platform, such as integrated loans designed for savings groups. We will capitalize on CARE’s investment and our collaboration to advance this ambition.”
In the countries where Chomoka operates, the CARE/Ensibuuko partnership should mean not only continuity of service but also an expanded range of features for users.
“As Country Director of CARE Tanzania, we have been working with Chomoka since its inception right here in Dar es Salaam. My team and I firmly believe in the power of savings groups to change the lives of their members and their communities. With this new partnership, I believe we have the potential to bring forward a solution that meets the scale of ambition and potential of women in the savings groups we serve,” she noted Prudence Masako, Country Director of CARE Tanzania.
Apollo Gabazira, Country Director of CARE Ugandahighlights the opportunity for this collaboration, noting that there couldn’t be a better time for such an initiative, given the growing demand for digital products and services in rural communities.
CARE is a global leader in supporting women and girls. By partnering with savings groups, CARE has served more than 20 million members in 64 countries. Each year these groups mobilize and invest over a billion dollars, almost all of it informally. These groups have a loan repayment rate of 99%. CARE’s investment in Ensibuuko represents a strategic effort to leverage technology for social good, addressing gender disparities in financial access and promoting sustainable development. Through Chomoka – and now in partnership with Ensibuuko – CARE aspires to enable savings groups to support each other and unlock access to digital products, financial services, markets and the internet more broadly.
About CARE
Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE® package, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places particular emphasis on working alongside women and girls. Equipped with the right resources, women and girls have the power to lift entire families and entire communities out of poverty. As of 2023, CARE operated in 109 countries, reaching 167 million people through more than 1,600 projects. To find out more, visit www.care.org.
Ensibuuko
Founded in 2014 in Uganda, Ensibuuko operates a suite of digital and financial products for savings and loan collectives, including a cloud-native microfinance banking platform for credit unions and a mobile application for savings groups. Additionally, Ensibuuko operates an integrated digital payments service that allows an individual to cash in and withdraw from their savings group or credit union account using mobile money or a banking agent. In 2022, Ensibuuko received a microfinance banking license in Uganda and now provides digital loans to savings groups. With 150 credit unions and 7,500 savings groups in Uganda and Malawi active on its platforms, Ensibuuko serves just over 500,000 users. To find out more, visit www.ensibuuko.com.
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