Centenary Group, through its technology subsidiary Centenary Technology Services (Cente-Tech), has entered into a strategic partnership with MicroPay Uganda to develop digital solutions aimed at improving access to essential services in education, healthcare, and insurance.
The partnership, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), brings together MicroPay Uganda’s digital services expertise and Centenary Group’s extensive community reach, technology capabilities, and experience in promoting financial inclusion.
The collaboration seeks to address challenges faced by individuals and families in accessing and paying for essential services by introducing convenient digital solutions that improve affordability, accessibility, and efficiency.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at Mapeera House in Kampala, Centenary Group Board Chairman Prof. John Ddumba Ssentamu said the partnership reflects the group’s long-standing commitment to extending financial inclusion to underserved communities.
“Centenary’s story has always been about the people other institutions overlooked. We took banking to the market vendor, to the smallholder farmer and to the family saving a little at a time in a trading centre far from any branch. That is the legacy entrusted to us: meaningful inclusion, carried all the way to the last mile,” Prof. Ddumba said.
Under the partnership, Cente-Tech and MicroPay Uganda will jointly develop digital platforms designed to simplify education payments and financing, improve access to healthcare services, and transform the management of insurance products, premiums, and claims.
In the education sector, the partners will explore solutions that allow parents and guardians to save towards school fees, make payments in instalments, and potentially access financing based on their payment history.
The solutions are also expected to provide schools with improved visibility into fee collections and cash flow management.
For healthcare, the partnership will leverage digital technology and agent networks to bring services closer to communities while reducing barriers linked to distance, accessibility, and payment processes.
In insurance, the focus will be on digitising access to insurance policies, enabling flexible premium payments, and improving claims processing to make insurance products easier to access and manage.
Peter Kahiigi, Chief Technology Officer at Centenary Technology Services, said technology has the potential to bridge gaps created by geography and income levels.
“ICT is an equaliser. A farmer with a phone can reach the same financial services as an executive in Kampala. Technology does not care where you were born or how much you earn, and when it is built well, it erases distances that money and geography have kept in place for generations,” Kahiigi said.
He said Cente-Tech will contribute its technological capabilities while Centenary Group will leverage its extensive ecosystem and trusted community presence.
The partnership builds on Cente-Tech’s expansion of digital financial services, including GonzaPay, which is supported by more than 9,000 Cente Agents across Uganda.
Kahiigi said the success of the collaboration will ultimately be measured by the difference it makes in people’s daily lives.
“Our measure of success is not this ceremony. It is the first school term where fees flow without queues, and the first claim paid in days instead of weeks. Let us get to work,” he said.
He added that successful solutions developed under the partnership could eventually be expanded to other markets where Centenary Group operates, including Malawi.
Speaking on behalf of MicroPay Uganda, board chairperson Dr. Aduwo Jennifer said partnerships between technology companies and financial institutions are essential in accelerating financial inclusion.
“The tangible benefits of financial inclusion can only be fully realised through purposeful and visionary partnerships such as this collaboration between MicroPay Uganda and the Centenary Group,” Dr. Aduwo said.
She said MicroPay Uganda brings more than 12 years of experience in digital payments and operates as a licensed Payment Service Provider and Payment System Operator under the regulation of the Bank of Uganda.
“By combining our expertise with Centenary Group’s strong community presence and innovation capabilities, we are confident that together we can transform access to essential services and create lasting impact for our communities,” she said.
Dr. Aduwo said the partnership aligns with efforts to extend financial services to more Ugandans, particularly those who remain underserved by traditional systems.
Prof. Ddumba said the impact of the partnership would not be measured by the signing ceremony but by the experiences of the people who use the solutions.
“Partnerships are not proven at ceremonies like this one. They are proven months later, in bursars’ offices and trading centres, by people who will never read the document we sign today. That is the standard I am asking both teams to hold,” he said.
