In Uganda, more women are becoming financially active than ever before. According to Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSDU), overall financial inclusion rose from 52% in 2013 to 68% in 2023. Progress driven mainly by the growth of mobile money and digital financial services (FSD Uganda, 2023).
But beneath these gains lies a persistent gap. When mobile money is excluded, only 34% of women hold accounts with a bank or non-bank financial institution (FSD Uganda, 2023). This means that while women are participating in financial systems, few are building the kind of credit histories that unlock access to formal credit.
Women play a central role in Uganda’s economy, particularly in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and agriculture; yet access to affordable, collateral-free finance remains elusive. One key to changing this story lies in how Uganda collects, shares, and uses credit data. By integrating gender-segregated data into the national credit ecosystem, the country could open new financial doors for millions of women entrepreneurs.
Reimagining the Role of Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs)
Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) serve as Uganda’s nerve centre for credit information. They collect borrower data from banks, microfinance institutions, Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs), and FinTechs, consolidating this information into credit reports that help lenders assess risk and repayment capacity.
Uganda already operates a Credit Information Sharing (CIS) system regulated by the Bank of Uganda. However, participation remains largely voluntary for institutions beyond Tier I–III (FSD Uganda, 2023).
Tier IV players, including SACCOs, digital lenders, and community-based micro-lenders, fall under the Accredited Credit Providers (ACP) framework established by the Tier IV Microfinance and Money Lenders Act, 2016 (Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority [UMRA], 2016). While the framework permits inclusion, data sharing among ACPs remains fragmented and inconsistent.
This fragmentation has created data asymmetry, where formal financial institutions have structured, credit-linked data, while community and informal lenders, which serve most women, operate in silos. As a result, responsible female borrowers in Tier IV systems remain invisible to Uganda’s national credit ecosystem.
A more inclusive approach integrates Tier IV data into CRBs and tags gender in credit histories, which could bridge these silos and give a more accurate picture of Uganda’s real economy.
Why Gender-Segregated Data Matters
When credit data is aggregated, the experiences of women borrowers are often obscured. Disaggregated data, on the other hand, reveals critical patterns that help lenders make fairer decisions.
For instance:
- Women often borrow smaller amounts yet maintain higher repayment consistency.
- Loan terms for women are usually shorter, and interest rates are higher.
- Many women rely on informal group credit or digital microloans, which never appear in CRB records.
Gender-segregated data enables policymakers and lenders to identify biases in lending decisions and develop tailored products for women and women-owned enterprises. Base risk assessment on repayment discipline rather than collateral.
In the 2023 Annual Report: Beyond Financial Inclusion, FSD Uganda notes that gender-disaggregated data helps identify underserved female segments, particularly rural and youth-led enterprises, and empowers lenders to tailor their offerings accordingly.
What the Data in Uganda Reveals
FSD Uganda’s Financial Inclusion Tracker (2023) sheds light on persistent inequalities. Women’s formal financial inclusion stands at 62%, compared to 68% for men. Only 21% of women have ever accessed formal credit, compared to 29% of men. Meanwhile, women dominate informal savings and lending groups, yet their repayment performance is rarely captured in CRB systems. This gap results in credit invisibility, where women’s positive borrowing behaviour remains unrecorded.
FSD Uganda also found that just 6.9% of Ugandan adults are currently covered by credit bureaus. Without comprehensive, gender-tagged data, lenders continue to rely on assumptions rather than evidence when assessing female borrowers.
Bridging the Data Divide: Opportunities for Action
The pathway to gender-intelligent credit access requires coordinated effort among all stakeholders in Uganda’s financial ecosystem.
For Credit Reference Bureaus:
- Expand integration with Tier IV Accredited Credit Providers (ACPs) to capture women’s credit activity in informal systems.
- Produce gender-disaggregated credit reports to guide lenders and policymakers.
- Integrate alternative data from mobile money, utilities, and humanitarian partners to enrich women’s profiles.
- Share gender intelligence insights to support data-driven policy and inclusive finance.
For Lenders:
- Use CRB data insights to develop products designed for women/women-owned MSMEs.
- Adopt flexible collateral systems such as movable assets, invoices, or group guarantees.
- Train loan officers to recognise and correct gender bias in credit assessments.
For Regulators and Policymakers:
- Extend mandatory credit data submission to Tier IV institutions.
- Integrate gender indicators into the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (2023–2028).
- Strengthen data governance frameworks to protect privacy while enabling inclusion.
For Development Partners and Research Institutions:
- Support pilot projects that merge Tier IV and humanitarian data into CRBs.
- Fund longitudinal research on how gender-based credit scoring affects access and repayment.
- Promote regional learning from Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda, where inclusive credit policies have improved women’s financial visibility (International Finance Corporation [IFC], 2024).
Challenges to Overcome
Despite progress, several challenges remain:
- Voluntary participation by Tier IV institutions limits data coverage.
- Gender data is often incomplete or missing, reducing scoring accuracy.
- Financial and digital literacy gaps persist among women borrowers.
- Regulatory overlaps delay the integration of ACP data.
Without deliberate coordination, Uganda risks excluding the very women who drive its MSME and agriculture sectors from the benefits of formal finance.
The Path Forward
Uganda stands at a pivotal moment. Integrating gender-tagged data across all financial tiers can redefine how inclusion is measured and achieved. By bridging data silos and capturing the financial activity of women in Tier IV and informal systems, Uganda’s CRBs can help transform credit from a privilege of the few into a pathway for equitable growth.
With strong regulatory leadership, data-driven innovation, and collaboration across sectors, Uganda can move from fragmented data systems to a gender-intelligent credit ecosystem; one that values repayment behaviour, builds trust, and unlocks opportunity for all. To unlock women’s credit access, Uganda must unlock the data first.
By Evelyn Katuutu Mugwanya
Head of Operations and Customer Experience at Creditinfo Group
Digital Frontiers Institute Alum
(Article originally shared on Digital Frontiers Institute on 5 February 2026)