Goodwell Investments, an impact investor financing inclusive growth in emerging markets, has announced its recent investment in the Agent Banking Company of Uganda, Ltd (“ABC”), a technology-focused financial services firm with a mission to “improve lives by facilitating access to quality and affordable financial services”.
Goodwell invested in ABC through uMunthu II, its EUR 150 million fund providing venture capital to impact-driven companies throughout Africa. The funding will enable ABC to pursue ambitious goals for growth, including expanding its client base, increasing agent coverage, and deploying new services.
While the investment in ABC marks Goodwell’s entry into Uganda, in terms of the sector focus – financial inclusion – the investment firm is treading on very familiar ground.
Despite significant progress in the past decade, financial inclusion is still a major concern across Africa. According to the World Bank, 45% of sub-Saharan Africans aged 15 and over were unbanked in 2021. One of the most effective ways to improve access to formal financial services is by bringing services closer to customers through a network of bank agents – local shopkeepers and kiosk owners authorised to carry out cash withdrawals, deposits, and other fundamental transactions.
ABC’s platform provides the underlying technology that powers these interconnected agent networks, enabling them to work directly with supervised financial institutions and local customers. The company was founded in 2017, when the Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA), the umbrella organisation for financial institutions licensed and supervised by the Bank of Uganda and technology company Eclectics International Ltd joined forces in response to the Financial Institutions (Amendment) Act 2016 that introduced Agent Banking, aimed at improving financial inclusion in Uganda.
When asked about ABC’s achievements and ambitions, CEO Richard Jabel commented, “Our business was established to address a very real need to expand the reach and improve access to quality and affordable financial services in Uganda. With the introduction of Agent Banking, there has been exponential growth in the number of service points through which consumers can access and use formal financial services offered by over 15,000 authorised bank agents.
“This has made it much easier and enabled the previously underserved communities to enjoy a range of formal financial services across the country. The investment from Goodwell will be instrumental in the next phase of our growth, as we enrich our service range to encompass the full suite of basic financial services to be accessed through mobile phones, agents and merchants. We look forward to working with Goodwell as we continue to improve livelihoods and remove financial exclusion barriers through the transformation of the financial services landscape in Uganda.”
