MM4P Uganda country assessment on affordable and accessible remittances for forcibly displaced persons and host communities June 2018 Uganda country assessment on affordable and accessible remittances for forcibly displaced persons and host communities i Table of Contents Acronyms .................................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................IX INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................XII 1. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Uganda FDP synopsis ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Uganda general remittances overview ....................................................................... 3 1.3 Uganda FDP remittances overview ............................................................................ 5 2. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 7 2.2 Stakeholder interviews .................................................................................................... 9 3. SUPPLY-SIDE FINDINGS AND BARRIERS ...................................................11 3.1 Uganda remittance provider landscape .....................................................................11 3.2 Provider perspective on FDP remittances ..............................................................14 3.3 Provider barriers to serving FDPs ..............................................................................15 3.4 Opportunities ....................................................................................................................20 4. DEMAND-SIDE FINDINGS AND BARRIERS ............................................... 25 4.1 FDPs’ socioeconomic lives and experiences ..........................................................25 4.2 Remittance trends among FDPs ................................................................................29 4.3 Remittance access barriers FDPs face ...................................................................38 5. POLICY FINDINGS AND BARRIERS ............................................................ 45 5.1 Agent license, capital requirements and compliance ........................................45 5.2 Barriers related to identity and KYC .........................................................................47 6. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ..............................................50 6.1 Recommendations........................................................................................................... 50 6.2 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 60 Uganda country assessment on affordable and accessible remittances for forcibly displaced persons and host communities ii ANNEXES .............................................................................................................61 Annex 1: Remittance and financial indicators for assessing FDP business case . .........................................................................................................................................................61 Annex 2: Field interview approach and experience ..................................................64 Annex 3: More on FDP general financial access .........................................................67 Annex 4: More barriers to FDP remittance access .....................................................70 Annex 5: Uganda’s refugee legal framework ..............................................................73 Annex 6: Foreign exchange and money remittance license classes and requirements .............................................................................................................................75 Annex 7: Laws and regulations on customer identification requirements .......77 Bibliography ..............................................................................................................................79 Regulatory references ............................................................................................................81 Recommended reading .........................................................................................................81 Uganda country assessment on affordable and accessible remittances for forcibly displaced persons and host communities iii List of Figures Figure 1: FDPs by country of origin and refugee settlement across Uganda ..... 1 Figure 2: Remittance-sending regions .............................................................................. 3 Figure 3: Key bilateral remittance corridors ................................................................... 3 Figure 4: Average transaction cost as % of USD 200 remittance .......................... 4 Figure 5: Cash transfer channels used by households in Uganda .......................... 5 Figure 6: Number of people interviewed in each selected site .............................. 8 Figure 7: Uganda’s FDP registration and documentation process ......................26 Figure 9: The FDP remittance process .......................................................................... 30 Figure 10: Formal and informal remittance processes .............................................35 Uganda country assessment on affordable and accessible remittances for forcibly displaced persons and host communities iv List of Tables Table 1: FDP versus host community characteristics ................................................... 2 Table 2: Attributes and selection criteria for interview sites .................................... 8 Table 3: Stakeholders interviewed ...................................................................................... 9 Table 4: Remittance services providers in Uganda ......................................................11 Table 5: Summary of supply-side barriers to FDP remittance service ................15 Table 6: FDP Financial Access ............................................................................................28 Table 7: FDP remittance data ..............................................................................................31 Table 8: Summary of demand-side barriers to FDP remittance service ............38 Table 9: Summary of policy barriers to remittance access for FDPs ..................45 Table 10: ID requirements for opening bank & mobile money accounts for citizens/legal residents vs. provider requirements for FDPs .................................47 Table 11: Summary of supply-side recommended actions and timeframes ..... 50 Table 12: Summary of demand-side recommended actions and timeframes ..52 Table 13: Summary of policy-side recommended actions and timeframes ......53 Annex Table 1: Business case general data ....................................................................61 Annex Table 2: Business case income data ...................................................................62 Annex Table 3: Business case remittance data............................................................62 Annex Table 4: Business case data on FDP and host community savings behavior ......................................................................................................................................63 Annex Table 5: Business case data on FDP and host community credit ..........63 Annex Table 6: Business case data on median monthly income of savers and borrowers ...................................................................................................................................63 Annex Table 7: Interview plan for Nakivale refugee settlement ...........................64 Annex Table 8: Interview plan for Bidi Bidi refugee settlement ...........................65 Annex Table 9: Interview plan for Kampala Urban FDPs .........................................66 Annex Table 10: Foreign exchange and money remittance license classes and requirements .............................................................................................................................75 Uganda country assessment on affordable and accessible remittances for forcibly displaced persons and host communities v Acronyms AML Anti-Money Laundering MMO Mobile Money Operators ASCA Accumulating Savings and MNO Mobile Network Operator Credit Association ATM Automated Teller Machine MTCN Money Transfer Control Number BoU Bank of Uganda MTO Money Transfer Operators CFT Countering Financing of NGO Non-Governmental Organization Terrorism CGAP The Consultative Group to Assist NIRA National Identification and the Poor Registration Authority CTAs Community Technology Access NITA National Information Technology hubs Authority DCA Danish Church Aid OPM Office of the Prime Minister DFS Digital Financial Services POS Point of Sale DRC Democratic Republic of Congo RIMS Refugee Information Management System EAPS East African Payments System ROSCA Rotating Savings and Credit Association FATF The Financial Action Task Force RSP Remittance Service Provider FDPs Forcibly Displaced Persons SACCO Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization FFG Fact Finding Group SIM Subscriber Identification Module FGD Focus Group Discussion SWIFT Society for Worldwide Interbank