To compete favourably with MTN Uganda, Airtel Uganda has partnered with JUMO to introduce ‘Wewole’, a loan product that will allow its subscribers to have credit services through the Airtel Money platform.
The new service was launched today (Thursday) at Airtel headquarters in Kampala. Airtel Uganda Managing Director, Anwar Soussa explained that there are so many opportunities within the financial industry that are not yet utilized, a thing that left many Ugandans unbanked. Over six million Ugandans are estimated to have bank accounts in a bankable population of about 20 million people.
“There is a huge number of Ugandans in rural areas with the potential to contribute to the growth of Uganda’s financial sector but with limited access to banking and financial facilities. This paperless and fast service will allow our clients to borrow through their phones and we are certain that it will help both individuals and small businesses across the country,” Said Soussa.
Airtel customers will have a chance of borrowing between Shs8,000 to Shs500,000. “Uganda has a huge population of unbanked and at Airtel, we believe that it’s our responsibility to ensure that they have access to best financial products such as the unsecured loans with high initial borrowing amounts,” he added.
Ronald Wakabi, the JUMO Country Director explained further that through this partnership, Airtel will be helped to have a growing mobile money ecosystem by ensuring the delivery of accurate, sustainable and efficient technology that will accelerate financial inclusion in Uganda. It should be noted that last year, MTN Uganda in partnership with Commercial Bank of Africa introduced MOKASH, a loans product that is seemingly going viral.
