June 21, 2024 – CARE is pleased to announce a strategic partnership and investment in Ensibuuko, a Uganda-based fintech company. The investment, brokered by CARE Social Ventures, will significantly expand efforts to ensure women and girls have the digital and financial access they need to thrive in today’s world. Through this partnership, Ensibuuko will acquire CARE’s proprietary Chomoka application, a digital solution for savings groups, and expand collaboration with CARE teams across Africa.
Like CARE, Ensibuuko believes digital products like Chomoka have the highest potential to help savings groups and their members (most of whom are women) build financial independence. Ensibuuko currently supports a network of 7,500 digital savings groups in Uganda and Malawi. In 2022, Ensibuuko acquired a microfinance banking license in Uganda and now offers digital loans and payments to savings groups and their members.
“We are convinced that Ensibuuko is the right partner for CARE. This partnership was the outcome of an extensive assessment of CARE’s growth pathways for Chomoka in late 2023. By combining Chomoka’s user-centric design, Ensibuuko’s proven business model, and CARE’s millions-strong VSLA network, this partnership has the potential to unlock access to financial and digital inclusion for an unprecedented number of savings groups and underserved communities,” said Christian Pennotti, Chomoka founder and CARE’s Managing Director for the Women in the Digital Economy Fund project.
Initially developed to help members of CARE-supported Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), Chomoka allows users to streamline savings VSLA group management and build digital skills. Chomoka was part of a collaboration between CARE, the Tanzanian technology company IPF Softwares and San Francisco-based Exygy which has ultimately led to a solution serving over 80,000 users across five countries.
“The collaboration with CARE is a monumental one for the savings groups industry,” notes Gerald Otim, Founder and CEO of Ensibuuko. “CARE is a global leader in building and growing savings groups networks. The timing of this collaboration is perfect: Ensibuuko is embarking on a journey to deliver digital products to millions of customers who operate in savings groups. We have also added critical services to our platform, such as embedded loans designed for savings groups. We’ll capitalize on the investment from CARE and our collaboration to advance towards this ambition.”
In the countries where Chomoka operates, the CARE/Ensibuuko partnership should mean not only continuity of service but also an expanded suite of features for users.
“As the CARE Tanzania Country Director, we have been working with Chomoka since its inception right here in Dar es Salaam. My team and I are firm believers in the power of savings groups to change the lives of their members and their communities. With this new partnership, I believe we have the potential to bring forward a solution that can meet the scale of ambition and potential of the women in the savings groups we serve,” noted Prudence Masako, CARE Tanzania Country Director.
Apollo Gabazira, Country Director for CARE Uganda, emphasizes the timeliness of this collaboration, noting that there couldn’t be a better time for such an initiative, given the soaring demand for digital products and services in rural communities.
CARE is a global leader in supporting women and girls. By working with savings groups, CARE has assisted over 20M members across 64 countries. Each year, these groups mobilize and invest over one billion dollars, almost all of it informally. These groups have a 99% loan repayment rate. CARE’s investment in Ensibuuko represents a strategic effort to leverage technology for social good, addressing gender disparities in financial access and fostering sustainable development. Through Chomoka–and now in partnership with Ensibuuko–CARE aspires to enable savings groups to support one another and unlock access to digital products, financial services, markets, and the internet more broadly.
About CARE
Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside women and girls. Equipped with the proper resources, women and girls have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. In 2023, CARE worked in 109 countries, reaching 167 million people through more than 1,600 projects. To learn more, visit www.care.org.
Ensibuuko
Established in 2014 in Uganda, Ensibuuko operates a suite of digital and financial products for savings and lending collectives, including a cloud-native microfinance banking platform for credit unions and a mobile application for savings groups. Additionally, Ensibuuko operates an embedded digital payments service that allows an individual to cash in and out of their savings group or credit union account using mobile money or a bank agent. In 2022, Ensibuuko received a microfinance banking license in Uganda and now provides digital loans to savings groups. With 150 credit unions and 7,500 savings groups in Uganda and Malawi active on its platforms, Ensibuuko serves just over 500,000 users. To learn more, visit www.ensibuuko.com.
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