Welcome in Uganda!

Five years of studying and months of flip-flopping around the world came to an end last May and time has come to start a new chapter and adventure in life. To seriously start working in development in Africa till (at least) the 9th of February 2007. Exciting and challenging it is….

Almost two weeks passed away since my early arrival at Entebbe Airport on October the 11th. After two hours of sleep in the plane I arrived at six in the morning. I dropped my luggage in Kampala, went to the office of SUFFICE and attended to a microfinance conference. The day after we said goodbye to Henk (my former SUFFICE contact person) at his party. I was happy after all to arrive two days earlier as initially planned. The first days I met many people involved in microfinance. An exhausting, but valuable start.

I am privileged to be in Africa for already the sixth time on a young age. Currently I am accommodated in Kampala in the guesthouse of the Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED). I never have been surrounded by so many Germans. They don’t differ that much from us Dutchies and it is good to spend time together. Here I met a very friendly German lady (Lioba) and she has been so kind to offer me to rent a room in her new house which is expected to be accessible within two weeks. It is funny to see how fast you got used to be in Africa again. I feel already comfortable and met many local and foreign people. So I am far from being bored.

In the postings below you will find background information about Uganda, what I am doing here among others. Though you have to be patient sometimes I keep my blog regularly updated. Creating & Sharing is my device. Enjoy as much as you like it!

Uganda in Eastern Africa

Uganda, landlocked country on the equator in East Africa. Uganda is around six times Holland in size and has more than 27 millions inhabitants. The country contains a varied landscape of savanna, dense forests, and tall mountains, as well as almost half of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa, and the primary source of the Nile River. Uganda is an ethnically diverse nation with a deeply ingrained intellectual and artistic culture. Poor but developing, Uganda’s economy is predominantly agricultural. Uganda was the site of several powerful kingdoms, most notably Buganda and Bunyoro, before the arrival of European colonists in the late 19th century.

Uganda became a British protectorate in 1894, and its present borders were established in 1926. It gained independence from British rule in 1962. In the 1970s and early 1980s the nation suffered two bloody dictatorial regimes, under Idi Amin and Milton Obote, and two wars. In 1986 Uganda came under the control of pragmatic leader Yoweri Museveni, who has introduced democratic and economic reforms.

Kampala

Kampala is Uganda’s capital and largest city, numbers over 1.2 million inhabitants and is spread out on a series of beautiful red-green hills. The capital lies at an elevation of about 1,200 m and views over the shrinking Victoria lake. The temperature is not unpleasant: it varies between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius. The city is dusty & dirty and traffic jams occur daily due to bad roads and a non-existence of traffic lights. Kampala seems to be a safe place despite (or because of) the enormous amount of security guards in town.

My first friend

Look here at Kenneth: one of these always smiling Africans, how wonderful. SUFFICE driver Kenneth picked my up at the airport and helped me very much in getting used to Kampala and in arranging practical matters. To generalize, people in Uganda are surprisingly friendly & helpful what makes your start as a newcomer much easier. What I experienced so far during the last years is no matter how beautiful a country looks like in terms of landscape, wildlife and alike, local people make the difference. In that perspective Uganda might become a unique experience.

Sounds of Africa

Not only the local people surprise me here. Most of my ‘sleeping’ nights were exhausting. Sounds of Africa are crazy sometimes. A special bird sounds like a monkey and they become too active between four and five in the morning. Then you have a creature I never can spot which makes noise like a opening wooden window/door. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like African music, but I start to get used to it.

Employer SUFFICE

My temporary contract is signed by SUFFICE (www.suffice.or.ug). I am working as a private junior research consultant and I am involved in the evolving world of microfinance. Bodil (see picture 'Kampala') is also contracted by SUFFICE and is introducing microinsurance products by a Dutch voluntary organization named MIAN.

SUFFICE is a European Union-Government of Uganda (EU/GoU) microfinance program that provides technical assistance to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs). SUFFICE also has a wholesale lending facility and offers bank guarantees to MFIs to beef-up their portfolio. Finally SUFFICE is involved in developing institutions at meso level such as rating agencies and credit reference bureaus. Part of its support services at meso level includes as well assistance given to umbrella organizations such as the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU). To that end, SUFFICE is an associated member of AMFIU.

Evaluation AMFIU

My task is to conduct an evaluation of the microfinance umbrella organization AMFIU (www.amfiu.org.ug). This will take three up till four months and the final result will be published by SUFFICE/AMFIU and probably placed on the website of the World Bank.

AMFIU is the national apex of Microfinance Institutions of all tiers and categories, ranging from: microfinance-oriented commercial banks and credit institutions (Tiers 1 and 2, licensed by the Bank of Uganda), to the newly-licensed Microfinance Deposit-taking Institutions (MDIs) in Tier 3; to the wide variety characterized as Tier 4, including savings and credit co-operative societies, NGOs, companies limited by guarantee, and companies limited by shares. AMFIU's associate membership also includes all kinds of stakeholders, such as international development partners and organisations such as the co-operative apex bodies.

In May 2006 AMFIU celebrated its 10th anniversary. This decade saw the umbrella both struggle and grow through different stages of institutional lifecycle. Despite the stirring history, AMFIU has been recognized internationally to be one of the most significant and vibrant microfinance apexes in Africa (indeed very few associations have celebrated their 10th anniversary in the first place).

Objective study AMFIU

The overall objective of the study is to better inform AMFIU and the donors that support the association:

(i) on its strengths and weaknesses
(ii) how the association is positioned in the microfinance landscape currently and
(iii) scenarios for the future.

With this information, management of AMFIU will have a tool at hand to strengthen their organization and results of the study will assist donors to more effectively and efficiently support AMFIU. In detail the study should provide an answer to the following issues:

1. The impact and management challenges of a very diverse membership on the policy directions of the association.

o How can an association represent the interests of both big and small financial intermediaries?
o How can the association balance member needs in terms of size, financial and capacity needs and how can it simultaneously deal with the needs of members located in rural and urban locations?

2. The role or influence of donors and governments on policy setting of the association.

o How do they influence the directions of AMFIU than their own members?
o Do they induce directions that are (partly) against the interest of the members or are these influences complimentary?
o In particular, the profile of the association as a network/umbrella vis-à-vis a project/multi-purpose NGO should be established and tested.

3. Prospects of financial sustainability of the association.

o How can or are members willing to finance the operational budget of an association?
o What other sources of income can be identified? In that context, which ways of income generation do systems within the association focus on/support (with regard to previous point)?
o What are meaningful indicators for financial sustainability of an apex?

4. How can the value-added of an association like AMFIU within the Ugandan microfinance industry be assessed and (continuously) measured?

o Among others this may be ascertained through a survey of members, donors and government agencies working in the microfinance industry.

5. Prospects or future scenarios of the association with recommendations.

o In particular this should be tied in closely with AMFIU’s current strategic plan. To make these recommendations very concrete and beneficial for AMFIU, the listed recommendations should assist AMFIU to focus and implement its strategic plan and to strengthen their capacity to achieve their goals.