Finn Church Aid’s (FCA) investment company FCA Investments Ltd (FCAI) has committed a $1 million seed investment to Ugandan fintech Ensibuuko, which currently provides digital financial services to over 200,000 rural customers in Uganda. The commitment was announced on April 30 in Kampala.

The funding is going towards increasing financial inclusion in rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ensibuuko will also gain access to FCA Investments’ technical resources and a global network of partners allowing it to build internal capacity and to establish strategic relationships across the region.

Ensibuuko operates a proprietary microfinance platform developed for Africa’s credit unions (SACCOs) and savings groups.

“I commend Ensibuuko for its focus on growing customer value and commitment to facilitating last-mile financial services. Their vision of unlocking opportunities for communities is well-aligned with our values at FCA Investments,” says Emmanuel Obwori, the Chief Operating Officer of FCA Investments.

FCA Investments seeks to leverage the power of long-term finance to unlock opportunities for underserved communities and boost job creation in developing countries by investing in impactful and scalable Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

The “impact-first” investment firm has already made several investments in high-growth, impact-driven businesses in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, including Uganda, and most recently in Somalia. Ensibuuko is the first fintech investment to join its portfolio.

In 2019, FCA Investments committed 4 million euros to the Ugandan Yield Fund, which targets agriculture-related businesses in Uganda across all value chains.

With this new investment, Ensibuuko ups its competitive stance in Africa’s fintech space.

“We thank FCAI for this funding which will allow us to scale rapidly in Uganda and expand to other markets. This new raise brings total investments in Ensibuuko to $1.6 Million, having closed a pre-seed round in 2017 from a group of Canadian angel investors,” says Ensibuuko’s Founder & CEO, Gerald Otim.

Empowering rural communities through financial inclusions

FCA Investments and Ensibuuko have an ambitious target to increase financial inclusion by scaling rural banking infrastructure and digital financial services to millions of customers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Since its launch in 2014, Ensibuuko has developed digital products and services for SACCOs and savings groups and built the infrastructure that connects them to the wider ecosystem of financial service providers, including telecoms, insurance and banks.

The fintech deploys technology solutions to community-based savings and loans organizations, so they can efficiently reach and serve unbanked and most underserved communities in Africa with affordable and relevant financial services.

Their proprietary microfinance solutions help these organizations to automate data, process payments and become efficient and bankable.

Ensibuuko intends to make major improvements to its newer digital loan and micro-insurance products, which target rural customers. They envision a world where everyone has access to relevant and affordable financial products and services.

Text: Linda Kabuzire

Read more about FCA Investments here.