Uganda

At the inception of the Inclusive Digital Economies (IDE) programme in Uganda in 2019, we were mindful of the constraints that inhibit the country’s ability to fully reap the benefits of the digital economy, including:

-The presence of relatively strong policies and regulations that have the potential to foster inclusive growth of the digital economy but remain difficult to implement and enforce.
-Inadequate digital infrastructure, such as network coverage, and significant gaps in infrastructure including high costs of devices and the Internet, and challenges related to accessing identification documents required for SIM card registration, especially in rural areas.
-A digital skills gap on both the developers’ and the users’ side, among others.
-We adopted a market systems development approach to strengthen market systems to ensure digital service offerings could work for targeted population segments, including rural farmers, women, youth, refugees, and micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

Throughout the three years of implementation of the programme, we have witnessed a great deal of catalysation of several market actors and development partners. They are now more actively involved in promoting inclusive digital economies. In other words, we have created a ‘crowding-in’ effect that is incentivizing digital finance and digital innovation enablers to enter markets they may otherwise overlook. Having more players on board also means that we can now bundle digital services and bring partners to work together to strengthen their business models and the value these services bring to the people we serve.