Opportunity’s Mission to Serve Refugees in Uganda

Author: Tamsin Scurfield, Opportunity International.

Opportunity Bank Uganda Limited was one of the semi-finalists of last year’s European Microfinance Award on Advancing Financial Inclusion for Refugees & Forcibly Displaced People. Continuing e-MFP’s focus on different approaches to this topic, this latest guest blog is by Tamsin Scurfield, the new Head of Refugee Finance for Opportunity International (OI), who explains OI’s work with  60 Decibels on a study on the impact of OI’s work on refugee finance – and the importance of a ‘human-centred design’ approach.

Overseas aid budget cuts are expected to have devastating effects in the humanitarian sector, at the same time as the number of refugees has more than doubled in the last ten years – and trends suggest numbers will continue to rise. At the end of June 2024, 122.6 million people remained forcibly displaced globally due to persecution, conflict, and human rights violations. Of these, 38 million are refugees. Despite wishing to, many cannot return home. In 2024, only 1% returned to their countries of origin and less than 0.5% were resettled. 

As humanitarian crises are predicted to continue, it is imperative we create solutions that mean refugees are able to overcome the many challenges they face in not only adapting to a new way of life in a new country, but also challenges such as access to markets, limited livelihood opportunities; and lack of documentation required to grow a business and become clients of a bank. Working together to overcome these challenges we have seen first-hand how refugees are able to support themselves and become less reliant on humanitarian aid. 

In 2018, we visited the Kiryandongo and Nakivale refugee settlements and met a refugee called Daniel Baptiste, a self-made entrepreneur who had recently arrived with his family fleeing conflict in South Sudan. He was a civil servant and former journalist who spoke four languages. What Daniel told us was that inside the Settlement he was welcomed, given an ID number and some food, but felt he was treated like a child. Daniel said he simply wanted to be able to work. He had managed to create for himself a small homestead, with goats and a few chickens. With his wife they baked and sold bread on food distribution days as the lines of refugees were waiting for their World Food Programme drop-off. However, there was no grinding mill in the Settlement, and he was frustrated by lack of capital to grow his small farming and business efforts.

Fast forward to 2025 when, working with Opportunity Bank of Uganda (OBUL) and FINCA International we have been able to serve over 40,000 refugees and host community members though training in finance and business, we’ve supported 18,500 to access savings and disbursed over 6,000 loans to a value of $2m, helping refugees grow and expand their small businesses.

Using a human-centred design, our approach to evaluate the impact of this work started with financial diaries, which provides a systematic study of the financial lives of low-income people. We targeted 397 participants in Nakivale and Kiryandongo Settlements to better understand patterns in income and expenditure to be able to inform appropriate product development. We segmented potential clients into three categories: subsidence, resilient and independent. Using their income and profit margins we were able to test a minimum viable proposition for those suitable for savings and credit. We did this alongside stakeholder mapping of players in the sector to ensure any financial inclusion aligns and compliments the work of humanitarian, government, refugee and private sector actors within the ecosystem. Bank products and training typically target 70% refugees and 30% host community members and continue to be refined and improved based on performance and user feedback.  

When we started, our objective was to test the business case for financing refugees, build their financial capabilities, help them save securely and grow their businesses. We learned that refugees were a viable client segment. They were as good (and sometimes better) at repaying loans than nationals and could be financed sustainably.

What we came to learn is in order to achieve self-reliance and increase household income, we needed to go beyond just financial inclusion and create market-based solutions that are both inclusive and sustainable over time.

Entrepreneurship support is one solution to create income opportunities, jobs and sustainable livelihoods. It is promoted as a key pillar in the refugee space by UNHCR, Governmental and NGO players and it is a complimentary activity, along with a microfinance offering. Typically entrepreneurs go through various stages in their journey, from ideation, to start-up; growth and scale. We partner directly with refugee-led organisations and enablers  such as Cohere and PHB – Scaling for Impact, so that alongside financial products and services, we can offer enterprise development support that includes access to targeted, scalable funds to strengthen businesses and organisational capacities. In this way we are creating skills, employment opportunities and sustainable outcomes for refugee communities within a broader ecosystem and market framework that should live on well beyond any external grant support.

It was clear from the responses that OBUL is having a strong, positive impact on the life and businesses of its customers. Customers have been able to increase their income through investments in agriculture, expanding their inventory and increasing their daily earnings. Just under 25% also reported they were able to hire employees, averaging at least two employees more than before the loan. 91% confirm that their business exists 18 months after the loan ends, showing that refugees are investable and that they can become self-reliant when given the opportunity. 

Most customers also reported improved financial wellbeing, which they attributed to OBUL, with 85% saying their ability to manage their finances has improved. In life, we all face unexpected challenges. The same is true of the refugees living in Nakivale, but from the interview feedback, OBUL customers also reported being more resilient financially, meaning they are better able to face emergencies. 79% of customers reported having increased savings.  

With the world experiencing increasing climate shocks, we are helping clients build resilience so they can face these potential challenges from the climate. Nearly half of customers affected by climate shocks say OBUL has strengthened their ability to recover. This was as a result of better financial planning, access to emergency loans, and business diversification. OBUL has also helped customers build financial safety nets and diversify income sources, helping protect them from future climate shocks and supporting them to rebuild their lives.  

Female refugee in Nakivale, 39 years.

As a global non-profit organisation, OI believes in the power of innovative financial solutions to help refugees build sustainable livelihoods. On the supply side, we support financial institutions with technical assistance, grants, and blended financial tools to deliver financial products and services that meet the needs of refugees. On the demand side, through enterprise development support building refugee capacity to manage investments, we create sustainable income generating activities and financial inclusion linkages. As we face the scale of global displacement, at Opportunity we will continue to support our clients with lasting solutions so that they can be self-reliant and be able to provide for themselves and their children.

Tamsin Scurfield holds a newly created post of Head of Refugee Finance for Opportunity International where she provides leadership to ensure the program delivers scalable and inclusive financial services to Refugees and host communities.