Overview:
The East African Community seeks a unified digital finance market, with companies like Ensibuuko and MTN MoMo pushing for regulatory alignment to expand services and reduce trade costs in the region.
KAMPALA, Uganda — Financial technology companies and telecommunications operators across the East African Community (EAC) are intensifying calls for harmonized regional financial regulations to streamline cross-border transactions and deepen financial inclusion. Despite the rapid adoption of digital platforms, significant barriers persist, particularly when service providers are direct competitors.
These challenges were a central focus at the recent Peer-to-Peer Learning Conference on Financial Services in Kampala. Stakeholders, including regulators, fintech innovators, telecom giants and policymakers from across the EAC, convened to explore solutions for streamlining financial systems and promoting seamless access to digital financial services.
Gerald Otim, founder and CEO of Ensibuuko, a Ugandan-based fintech established in 2014, underscored his company’s mission to expand financial access for the region’s underbanked population. Through partnerships with over 150 savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOS), Ensibuuko currently serves more than 350,000 individuals, with 20% to 30% actively utilizing mobile money services each month.
Otim explained Ensibuuko’s origins, stating, “We offer tailored solutions for savings groups, but for SACCOS, we provide a unique cloud-based co-banking system for microloans. It enables members, like a young grocery vendor, to instantly access small loans via phone without SACCOS approval delays.” He lauded the growing acceptance of mobile money banking, especially in rural communities.
However, Otim identified regulatory disparities as a significant hurdle for fintechs expanding across the region. “Regulation has become far more developed than it was a few years ago. You need a license in every East African country you operate in, which takes resources and time,” Otim said. “The East African Community must find ways to harmonize these processes to ease regional expansion.”
While Ensibuuko has made inroads in Uganda and recently expanded into Tanzania, Otim stressed that scaling digital solutions remains costly and complex due to differences in currencies, licensing procedures and device accessibility across countries. “Our app has to support multiple languages and currencies, which increases operational demands,” he said.
Despite these hurdles, Otim expressed optimism for a single East African market, believing it would “open huge opportunities for businesses like ours to scale faster.” He also called for a stronger local investment culture in Uganda’s digital sector to fully unlock its potential.
Push for Regional Harmony
The conference underscored the urgent need for collaboration among rival firms and regional regulators to address bottlenecks hindering interoperability and cross-border financial transactions. Participants generally agreed that while individual countries have made strides in expanding financial inclusion, fragmented policies and isolated digital ecosystems continue to limit the full potential of regional financial integration.
As fintech solutions evolve, stakeholders emphasized that a harmonized approach — built on cooperation, shared infrastructure and supportive regulation — will be key to enabling the free flow of digital financial services across borders, ultimately making financial access easier for millions.
MTN MoMo, which has transformed into a robust digital financial platform serving over 14 million Ugandans in 16 years, highlighted its commitment to financial inclusion. Jemima Kariuki, MTN MoMo’s chief product officer, noted the company’s evolution from a basic cash-in, cash-out service. “Today, our customers can pay in restaurants, supermarkets and access savings, loans and now even investment products,” Kariuki said.
Adrian Njau, executive director of the East African Business Council, stressed the imperative for regional financial harmonization to facilitate trade flows and eliminate costly currency conversion barriers. “What we are looking for is a system where, for example, if you are transferring goods from Tanzania to Uganda, you simply pay using Uganda shillings, and the exporter in Tanzania receives their payment in Tanzanian shillings,” he said. “Currently, when using international systems like the Visa or MasterCard networks, there are major challenges with currency exchange and convertibility. It becomes very expensive for cross-border trade.”
Njau argued that enabling local currency transactions would significantly reduce reliance on major international currencies like the U.S. dollar. “The existing interoperability platforms are working well, but we must go further,” he said.
Njau also highlighted that existing legal and regulatory frameworks across the region are not yet aligned to fully support seamless cross-border financial transactions. “For us to operate effectively as a region, we need to harmonize the legislation that governs cross-border trade and payments,” he said. “This is about moving beyond national-level harmonization to establishing regional-level legislation that facilitates faster movement of goods and services.”
He acknowledged progress by some EAC member states in addressing these regulatory barriers. “We’ve seen some governments taking decisive steps to tackle these issues, but others need a bit of a push,” he said. “The financial sector players also need to come together at the national level to address country-specific challenges before moving to the regional stage with a unified position.”
Beyond regulatory reforms, Njau urged both the public and private sectors to proactively embrace artificial intelligence (AI) as a key driver of economic transformation in East Africa. “If we don’t start adopting AI now, some professions risk becoming obsolete,” he warned, stressing the need for East Africa to embed AI solutions into its businesses and key sectors. “The potential is here.”
Njau concluded that harmonizing financial regulations, embracing new technologies and building cost-effective, local currency payment systems are essential steps in driving East Africa toward a fully integrated, competitive regional market.
Annet Mutaawe Semuwemba, the EAC deputy secretary-general, highlighted the growing benefits of regional interoperability in mobile money transactions. “Today, if you want to send money from your mobile phone in Uganda to a Safaricom number in Kenya, it is quick and immediate. These are some of the tangible benefits we are already enjoying,” she said. “What we are now discussing is how we can enhance these benefits and think about new digital innovations, especially as the world becomes increasingly digital and interconnected.”
Mutaawe noted that the EAC recently concluded its digitization strategy, outlining key pillars for regional digital transformation. “The strategy provides a roadmap to support digitization across the East African Community,” she said. “We are currently focusing on critical areas such as cross-border data sharing, building legal infrastructure, strengthening cybersecurity, and exploring artificial intelligence. However, these are still in the early, formative stages.”
She stressed that harmonization remains the most urgent regional priority. “Within our strategy, we have a whole pillar dedicated to harmonization,” she said. “This is critical for the region. As we heard from various speakers, each country still operates under its own national legislation.”
Uganda’s Progress and Future Vision
Henry Musasizi, Uganda’s Minister of State for General Duties, urged EAC member states to strengthen collaboration and harmonize financial regulations to accelerate digital financial integration. Speaking at the second Peer-to-Peer Learning Conference, he emphasized the importance of digital innovation in supporting cross-border trade, expanding financial access and empowering the region’s financial ecosystem.
The minister commended East Africa’s leadership in mobile money innovation, citing the region’s processing of over 36 billion mobile money transactions in 2023, valued at more than $200 billion. He also highlighted Uganda’s steady progress in financial inclusion, with access increasing from 28% in 2009 to over 66% today, supported by more than 25 million registered mobile money accounts.
“These numbers show that more than half of Uganda’s population now has access to mobile financial services,” Musasizi said. “This presents an incredible opportunity for deeper financial integration and sustainable regional growth.”
Despite the progress, Musasizi acknowledged that regulatory disparities among EAC member states remain a significant barrier to seamless digital financial integration. “We must harmonize our regulatory frameworks,” he said. “When we developed Uganda’s National Payment Systems Act, we benchmarked Kenya’s experience. It helped us address key challenges like interoperability, but there is still more to be done across the region.”
He emphasized that interoperability is now a practical tool reshaping cross-border transactions. “Mobile money users can now send and receive funds between Uganda, Kenya and other EAC countries without physical cash or foreign currency,” Musasizi said.
Musasizi also lauded Uganda’s expanding digital lending ecosystem, which provided credit to over five million individuals and small businesses last year, further advancing financial inclusion and supporting entrepreneurship.