Refugees in Lamwo, Uganda/ courtesy photo
The government is planning to enhance the ownership of land by refugees in an initiative aimed at ensuring greater economic sustainability while reducing international humanitarian Assistance.
Currently, refugees are given plots of land for use temporarily, especially to grow crops for food and sell to fellow refugees and the host communities, but have no ownership over them.
Now, the different government and international agencies are in talks to work out a plan to give more rights to the refugees over pieces of land, to a level that can enable them to access credit from financial institutions.
State Minister for Trade Harriet Ntabazi says this will go a long way in supporting the refugee communities in addition to the trade and agricultural infrastructure the government is putting up in refugee settlements.
She was speaking at the launch of a digital-based refugee women financing program, a partnership between UGAFODE Microfinance and Soko Uganda.
Soko Uganda is an initiative of the Uganda Manufacturers Association, Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives, and Abercom Uganda Technologies Limited formed to support online trading in Ugandan-made products.
Stressing the importance of the initiative, Ntabazi said the refugee sector is known for technology transfer which boosts the economy of the host country. She said some of the refugees have neither the plans nor the means of returning to their countries of origin, hence the need for Uganda to include them in her development projects.
The Office of the Prime Minister appealed to more financial institutions to create initiatives that target financial inclusion for refugees, especially through digital platforms.
Brenda Wiwo, a community service manager in the refugee directorate at the OPM says the government does not have enough resources to cater to the ever-changing needs of the refugees.
She was, however, concerned about the risk of leaving the male refugees out of the programs, and urged Soko and UGAFODE to extend the project to all refugee settlements.
The partnership targets Nakivale, Kyangwali, and other settlements in Western Uganda, and UGAFODE Chief Executive Officer, Shafi Nambobi, says that in two years they will expand such initiatives to settlements in other parts of the country.
According to the partnership, Soko will, among other things, train the small and micro-entrepreneurs in business skills and market access, as well as allow the beneficiaries to sell their products via the online platform.
The idea is based on the fact that digital platforms have become a vital part of business operations, especially since the outbreak of Covid 19.
These products include food items, crafts, textiles, and other products they make as well as those traded in.
The e-commerce partnership will then allow the entrepreneurs to be paid via the same and their money deposited into their accounts with UGAFODE.
Nambobi said they also lend to the refugee and host communities with no collateral because they own no properties, but that their businesses act as a guarantee or security that the loans would be paid back.
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