Overview:
Furaha has financed school fees for 100,000 Ugandan learners, up from 20,000 earlier this year, as banks and payment platforms expand its lending network.
Kampala-based fintech Furaha has financed school fees for 100,000 learners, a fivefold increase from the 20,000 it reported earlier this year, as more banks and payment platforms join its school fees lending network.
The company’s reach has also expanded from more than 5,000 schools to over 7,000 schools nationwide, where parents can now pay fees using Furaha-powered loans.
Founded in 2023 and incubated by SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered, Furaha operates a bank-backed model. Rather than lending from its own balance sheet, it provides partner banks with a digital lending platform covering customer onboarding, identity checks, credit scoring using alternative data, loan disbursement and collections.
Its lending partners include Diamond Trust Bank Uganda, Cairo Bank Uganda, Opportunity Bank and FINCA Uganda. The company launched in 2024 with Opportunity Bank and payments platform SchoolPay, and has since added Cairo Bank Uganda, Diamond Trust Bank Uganda, payments aggregator SurePay and the National Private Education Institutions Association of Uganda (NPEIA-UG).
Loans are paid directly to schools and repaid over three months, a structure Furaha says is designed for parents whose income does not arrive in time for the start of term.
Chief Executive Officer Dennis Musinguzi said the growth had come faster than the company expected.
“When we launched, our goal was simple: that no child in Uganda should be sent home because fees fell due before the money came in. Reaching 100,000 children has happened faster than we imagined, and this milestone belongs to Ugandan parents,” he said.
“Term after term, they have shown that when finance is built around how they earn, they meet their commitments.”
The company is targeting a growing market. Beyond tuition, Ugandan families must meet the cost of uniforms, scholastic materials and meals, and school fees remain one of the most common reasons children miss lessons or leave school. A Daily Monitor analysis of Ministry of Education data found that of about 1.9 million pupils who entered Primary One in 2012, only about 142,000 from the same cohort registered for Senior Six examinations.
Board Chair Sanjay Rughani said the company’s results showed that a purpose-led model could also be commercially sustainable.
“Furaha was founded on the belief that finance should serve a purpose, and there are few purposes more important than a child’s education,” Rughani said. “Reaching 100,000 children, together with the growing confidence of our partners, shows that this purpose can guide a model built to serve Ugandan families for the long term.”
Furaha aims to reach 1 million learners by 2028 by bringing more schools and financial institutions onto its platform.
Parents can apply by dialling 16580# or through the Furaha app on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.