Call for Applications: Financial Literacy, Digital Literacy and Business Development Skilling for Refugees in Uganda

The Project is expected to be implemented until 31st May 2025 and will be undertaken in Isingiro District (Nakivale Refugee Settlement) and Kyegegwa District (Kyaka II Refugee Settlement) in Southwestern Uganda.

UNCDF will provide a grant and technical assistance to the partner to carry out the activities.

Aims

• The programme aims to enhance access to affordable finance and digital financial literacy to support refugees and host communities in Uganda on their journey towards sustainable and self-reliant livelihoods. To boost the target groups’ income-generating activities, UNCDF will:
  • support financial service providers (FSPs) to develop financing products;
  • provide financing for matching grants to serve as seed capital to refugee/host community businesses;
  • provide financing for interest rate subsidies on loans to refugees and their host communities to decrease their borrowing costs;
  • support enhancing financial literacy of refugees and host community members to ensure they have the capacities to deal with debt and financial institutions. The interventions seek to enable this population to borrow affordably, while FSPs are de-risked to scale lending operations to them.

Objectives

• The objectives are:
  • Refugees and host community members have improved financial literacy skills and increased awareness of affordable financing options for investments: The programme will be working closely with FSPs to understand available loan products for the target groups and customize BDS for new/existing businesses.
  • Strengthened capacity of refugees and host community members to effectively deploy the capital acquired (client outcomes): The programme includes training to enhance the financial and digital literacy of refugees and host community members which will help them acquire and use the loans in a productive way and help them grow their businesses.
  • Increased productivity and sustainability of refugee owned businesses (client outcome): The programme includes training to enhance business skills for refugees and host community members which will help them to start, invest and grow their businesses. A dedicated business support programme will be rolled out to ensure loans taken are productively invested in business to minimize loan diversion.

Focus Areas

• The focus areas include:
  • Area 1: Provision of business development skilling (BDS) for refugees and host community members who take loans against the access to finance project in Isingiro district (Nakivale Refugee settlement) and Kyegegwa District (Kyaka II Refugee settlement) of Western Uganda.
    • This component will focus on developing customized BDS training content with the aim to improve skills and competencies relevant for refugees to start and grow viable and profitable businesses / income generating activities.
    • The intervention will focus on the most relevant BDS content for micro and small businesses, like introduction to entrepreneurship, conducting a market assessment, networking and marketing, limited knowledge on financial services, business planning and management, profitability and projection analysis, bookkeeping, legal and regulatory considerations. The main purpose is to ensure that loans received from financial institutions are effectively invested and minimize loan defaults.
  • Area 2: Improve financial and digital literacy skills for refugees and host community members taking loans
    • This focus area aims to engage institutions present in the target geographies. With support from UNCDF the partner will adopt the existing financial and digital literacy curriculums, customized to the needs and context of refugees and host community members.
    • The trainings will target to improve refugees understanding of savings, personal financial management, types of financial services (loan products) available, selection of a business venture, planning and management of income generating activities and understanding of digitally enabled financial services.

Funding Information

• UNCDF’s contributions can range from 100,000 USD (US Dollars) to 150,000 USD (US Dollars).
• Timeline: The Project is expected to be implemented until 31st May 2025 and will be undertaken in Isingiro District (Nakivale Refugee Settlement) and Kyegegwa District (Kyaka II Refugee Settlement) in Southwestern Uganda.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant/lead applicant must be a registered entity duly incorporated and registered according to the rules of Uganda.
• Applicant (s) should be operating in the Isingiro District (Nakivale Refugee Settlement) and /or Kyegegwa District (Kyaka II Refugee Settlement) in Southwestern Uganda for at least 2 years with a valid MOU with the office of the Prime Minister.
• Applicant (s) should have audited financial statements for at least the last 3 years.
• Applicants can apply only once under this RFA, whether independently or in a consortium.
• Applications from consortiums of organizations must show that the partnership was established prior to this call for applications.
• The deliverables and any correspondence between the applicant organization and UNCDF must be in English.

Exclusionary Criteria

• Applicants shall not have been the subject of bankruptcy, liquidation, judicial settlement, safeguarding, and cessation of activity or any other similar situation resulting from a similar procedure.
• Applicants must not be involved in any of the following activities
  • Manufacture, sale or distribution of controversial weapons or their components, including cluster bombs, anti-personnel mines, biological or chemical weapons or nuclear weapons.
  • Manufacture, sale or distribution of armaments and/or weapons or their components, including military supplies and equipment.

For more information, visit UNCDF.