FSA International Case Study - Uganda

This paper presents the case study of Financial Services Association (FSA) of Uganda and is derived from DFID project reports and interviews of the DFID field staff. FSAs are shareholder/owner-used and managed, membership-based organizations which offer financial services to their members.

The FSAs in Uganda:

• Have flourished in rural areas of Masaka district;
• Were started with the support of DFID in 1998;
• Offer equity, savings and loan products to their members.

The paper draws from several evaluation studies on FSAs and focuses on:

• Institutional viability;
• Impact on empowerment of women;
• Effectiveness of FSAs in contributing to sustainable livelihoods.

The paper concludes that FSAs have proved to be a workable model, but little has been done to systematically assess their impact on members' livelihoods and households. Improved management information systems (MIS), and regular client satisfaction surveys may help FSAs in improving their services.