The Agent Banking Company of Uganda, a technology-focused financial services firm with a mission to “improve lives by facilitating access to quality and affordable financial services”, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Goodwell Investments, an impact investor financing inclusive growth in emerging markets.
Founded in 2017, Agent Banking Company focuses on increasing access and use of a wide range of quality, secure and affordable financial services by underserved communities in Uganda through its shared and interoperable digital platforms.
The company enables multiple bank and non-bank financial services providers to provide financial services to consumers through authorised bank agents, and currently serves 18 supervised financial institutions and five payments services providers with over 15,000 bank agents across Uganda.
“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,” said CEO Richard Jabel.
The company has now secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Goodwell Investments via its uMunthu II fund, a EUR150 million (US$167 million) fund providing venture capital to impact-driven companies throughout Africa. The funding will enable Agent Banking Company to pursue ambitious goals for growth, including expanding its client base, increasing agent coverage, and deploying new services.
“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,” said Jabel.
