Project for Financial Inclusion in Rural Areas

The goal of this project is to sustainably increase access to, and use of, financial services by the rural population in the target area. Specifically, it will focus on:

• Rural women, men and young people who earn income but do not have access to financial services
• Members of mature community-based savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) who have successfully saved and borrowed within their groups for at least three years but do not use formal financial institutions
• Women and men who belong to rural savings and credit cooperatives that are not yet operationally self-sustaining but have the potential to become sustainable.

IFAD has developed a close partnership with the Government of Uganda thanks to its involvement in the rural financial sector under the Rural Financial Services Programme, now completed. PROFIRA will build on lessons learned under that programme, consolidating the gains made and supporting selected SACCOs in achieving sustainability. It will also scale up community-based savings and credit groups to ensure inclusion of communities that are currently not served by financial service providers.

Source: IFAD