By Aloysious Kasoma
Farmers and businesses in the agriculture value chain are set to benefit from a ground-breaking collaboration between the Mastercard Foundation, Innovation Village and Equity Bank.
The strategic partnership aims at facilitating market access, job opportunities and financial support, in order to foster digital and financial inclusion throughout Uganda.
The three entities formalised their commitment through a memorandum of understanding signed at Serena Hotel yesterday.
Richardo Pareja, the senior vice-president humanitarian development at the MasterCard Foundation, expressed the foundation’s ambitious goal of reaching at least 1.5 billion people by the end of 2025, citing Uganda as a well-prepared and receptive country for MasterCard’s initiatives.
“Uganda has been our focal point, which is why we have joined forces with Innovation Village and Equity Bank to develop digital ecosystem solutions that empower women and youth to access financial services usingvarious technological tools, especially in payments,” he said.
Pareja highlighted the Community Pass as a key component designed to bridge the gap between the unbanked and formal financial services, offering secure and convenient solutions.
Pareja underscored the significance of Innovation Village’s digital infrastructure, which will empower numerous start-ups to leverage common resources for accessing job opportunities, markets and income-generating activities.
He emphasised the importance of digitising Uganda’s informal economy, where more than 95% of economic activity currently occurs, making it invisible in the formal sector.
Through the Community Passplatform, MasterCard is committed to connecting individuals in under-served, remote and often offline communities to digital solutions for everyday transactions.
“This partnership holds immense potential to enhance digital visibility, promote financial inclusion, enable credit-building opportunities as well as provide marginalised and underserved populations with access to digital services. We firmly believe that technology will drive financial inclusion and empower individuals, enabling consumers and small businesses to thrive in the digital economy,” Pareja said.
Equity Bank plans to leverage MasterCard’s Community Pass solution to issue financial inclusion cards, serving as both online and offline storehouses of value.
This innovation will enable individuals to save and spend their funds securely and digitally.
Kenneth Onyango, the executive director of commercial banking at Equity Bank, outlined the bank’s goal of reaching over 100 million customers through its financial inclusion and digital banking initiatives, simplifying access to a wide range of services and facilitating access to credit for individuals and businesses.
Onyango said the collaboration aligns seamlessly with the bank’s strategy of promoting financial inclusion.
“Equity Bank will also partner with Innovation Village to facilitate the implementation of the financial inclusion agenda through the Digital Economy Programme. Agriculture, as a sector, stands to benefit significantly from this collaboration, as many farmers have yet to fully harness the potential of the value chain,” he said.
Japheth Kawanguzi, the team leader at Innovation Village, lauded the partnership’s potential to create an ecosystem that recognises and rewards entrepreneurs for their innovations.
By leveraging shared digital infrastructure, the programme aims at developing innovative solutions that bring critical financial and related services closer to communities. The platform will empower innovators to expand their reach, reduce costs and explore new revenue opportunities, he said.
