Who we are

Our People

Our Supporters

Our Grameen Heritage

Values

Awards and Recognition

Partnerships
• Our global MFI network
• Technology partnerships
◦ Village Phone Uganda
    ◦ Village Phone Rwanda
• The ONE Campaign

Contact information

Grameen Foundation : Who we are : Partnerships : Technology partnerships : Village Phone Uganda

Village Phone Uganda Partners

Grameen Foundation works to capitalize on local institutions already in place, which have valuable knowledge and experience of their working environment.  For the Village Phone Uganda project, we are working in collaboration with the local telecomunications provider MTN Uganda.  In addition to MTN Uganda, we have partnered with ten independent microfinance organizations. This breadth of partnership has enabled MTN Village Phone to achieve the necessary scale for financial and social sustainability. As of June 2007, over 9000 Village Phone Operators have been created across the country.

MTN Uganda

MTN Uganda launched commercial services in 1998 and has since grown to be the dominant telecommunications company in Uganda. Offering a wireless approach, MTN today services in excess of 1.6 million customers. One of MTN's most passionately pursued goals is to make telecommunications accessible to the wider population; since MTN Uganda's inception, teledensity in Uganda has more than quadrupled. In 2003, MTN Uganda partnered with The Grameen Technology Center to bring Village Phones to Uganda. As a shareholding partner, MTN provides communications infrastructure, affordable airtime, equipment and support. The first Village Phone Operators started business in Uganda in March 2003, and MTN VillagePhone was formally launched on November 17, 2003.


U-Trust

Formerly known as Uganda Women's Finance Trust Limited, Uganda Finance Trust Limited (U-Trust) began operations in 1984 providing credit services primarily to rural-based, low-income women in Uganda. U-Trust takes pride in the fact that it is the oldest indigenous microfinance institution in Uganda, and in 1988 they became one of the first Women's World Banking (WWB) affiliates to mobilize savings. In August 2003, in partnership with The Grameen Technology Center on the Uganda Village Phone Project, UWFT expanded their services to include the opportunity for clients to operate a village phone business.


FINCA Uganda

Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) Uganda was founded in 1992 as FINCA's first Village Banking program on the African continent. By the end of 2006, they were serving an estimated 46,200 clients, the majority of whom are single mothers or mothers caring for orphans, through a network of Village Banking groups across Uganda. FINCA aims to broaden its portfolio of financial products and sources of capital to reach even more clients in the coming years. The Grameen Technology Center will work with FINCA to broaden their product offering and achieve greater outreach through the Village Phone Project. Read more
 

UML

The Uganda Microfinance Limited (UML) is one of the leading microfinance institutions in Uganda and in all of Africa. The institution is committed to serving its 80,000+ members from its 20 branch network with quality financial services in a reasonable, fair, and transparent manner. UMU relies on its principles of innovation, quality customer service, and flexibility in order to meet the needs of its rapidly expanding client base to provide the necessary tools for its clients to improve their livelihood through access to financial services.


Pearl

Pearl (formally known as Feed the Children Uganda) is a non-governmental organization affiliated to Feed the Children International. In Uganda, they started their activities in 1991, operating as a small relief organization providing food aid to six centers for disadvantaged children in Kampala. Today, they are involved in a wide range of development activities covering 15 districts across the country, including a microcredit program. With over 52,000 clients – 85% of which are women – spread across Uganda, Feed the Children is in a good position to expand the outreach of MTN Village Phone and thereby bringing the benefits of telecommunications to more and more people in rural Uganda.


MEDNET

MedNet is World Vision's Micro Enterprise Development initiative, which operates in 43 countries worldwide. MedNet Uganda joined MTN Village Phone in July 2004 and provides community and individual loans to over 22,000 clients across rural Uganda. The loan-and-savings circles provide an efficient and cost-effective delivery of financial services to some of the poorest in the world. Integrated with other interventions to meet development needs, MedNet helps transform entire communities.


HOFOKAM

HOFOKAM is a specialized Microfinance Institution founded by the Catholic Dioceses of Fort Portal, Hoima and Kasese with funding and technical support from CRS. The institution was founded in March 2003 through the merger of three diocesan micro finance programs, and incorporated as a company limited by guarantee, and is now the largest rural MFI in Uganda, with over 15,000 active clients. HOFOKAM joined MTN Village Phone in November 2004 and is in an excellent position to bring communication technologies to the rural poor, with a recognized niche in the rural micro finance market in Western Uganda.

Grameen Foundation : Who we are : Partnerships : Technology partnerships : Village Phone Uganda