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Majority of Ugandans don't have money to manage unexpected crisis - report
A teller counts money in a bank. Treasury bills have registered a good number of investors for the government securities. PHOTO/file
What you need to know:
- Releasing the State of Financial Management in Uganda during the launch of the annual banking and financial services awareness month at Sheraton Kampala Hotel, Financial Sector Deepening Uganda Director of Programmes, Mr Joseph Lutwama, said the gender gap is limited overall. When assessing all types of usage (formal, semi-formal, and informal) 72 per cent of women and 73 per cent of men claim to use financial services / solutions (formal or not).
A new report by the financial sector deepening Uganda reveals that the majority of Ugandans do not financially plan for the future and are unable to manage unexpected events.
The report indicates that 60 per cent of women are less likely to come up with an emergency fund in times of crisis while men’s unlikeness stands at 50 per cent.
Releasing the State of Financial Management in Uganda during the launch of the annual banking and financial services awareness month at Sheraton Kampala Hotel, Financial Sector Deepening Uganda Director of Programmes, Mr Joseph Lutwama, said the gender gap is limited overall. When assessing all types of usage (formal, semi-formal, and informal) 72 per cent of women and 73 per cent of men claim to use financial services / solutions (formal or not).
“However, a gender gap exists for the usage of formal financial services and this gap increases with poverty levels, rurality, and illiteracy / limited education. There is a 16 per cent gender gap in the usage of formal financial services. Women are more likely to use semi-formal services, and more specifically saving groups which they are more likely to find safe than men,” he said.
Mr Lutwama explained that this can be explained by the fact that women tend to be less empowered and financially independent, even if they are involved in household decisions. Women are less likely to be heads of households, to own land or a mobile phone… …and more likely to be dependent on others for their livelihood.
“Overall, wealth, geographic location and educations stand out as stronger predictors of limited usage of financial services than gender usage of financial services evolve. According to the same variables for men, though to a lesser extent behaviour among wealth or location categories are quite similar for men and women, and the reasons behind the choice of one type of institution rather than the other tend to be similar across both genders,” he said.
He said women are 17 per cent less likely to use mobile money and 38 per cent less likely to use banks, adding that semi-formal financial services such as savings groups are more popular among them compared to men.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services (UIBFS), Ms Gorret Masadde, said financial sector deepening reveals that only 40 per cent of the population can manage to sustain themselves with income.
