Shifting from cash to digital financial ecosystems could significantly accelerate Uganda’s ambition to scale its economy tenfold by 2040, according to a senior Mastercard executive.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 9th Annual Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) conference at the Kampala Marriott Hotel, Victor Ndlovu, Mastercard’s Vice President and Head of Business Development for East Africa, noted that transitioning away from cash typically yields a 1% to 2% boost to a nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“That speaks exactly to what we are trying to deliver,” Ndlovu stated. The conference, which Mastercard has sponsored since its inception, focused heavily on how financial institutions can help operationalize the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy—a blueprint designed to expand the national economy from $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040.
Ndlovu emphasized that digital payments serve as a gateway to the formal economy for underserved consumers and businesses. By replacing cash, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generate verifiable transaction histories, clearing a path toward formal credit lines.
SMEs represent the backbone of Uganda’s private sector, accounting for 90% of all private enterprises and employing over 2.5 million people, according to the Uganda Investment Authority. Despite their economic weight, access to capital remains a pervasive challenge.
“Today’s challenge, not just here in Uganda but across Africa, is access to capital,” Ndlovu said. “Each digital transaction builds a credit history that banks can use to evaluate loan eligibility. Once credit flows, growth becomes self-sustaining: the more businesses do, the more they produce, and the more they contribute to the economy.”
Uganda’s digital money ecosystem has experienced rapid growth. Data from the Bank of Uganda reveals that electronic money transactions surged 28.6% to 326.3 trillion shillings in the year ending June 2025. Furthermore, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) reported 37.8 million active mobile money subscriptions in the second quarter of this year, driving 2.55 billion transactions.
While card payments have historically lagged behind mobile money, Mastercard is focused on infrastructure synergy rather than competition. Uganda boasts over half a million mobile money merchants, far outnumbering card-accepting venues. To bridge this gap, Mastercard is deploying low-cost solutions that turn standard smartphones into payment acceptance terminals, eliminating the need for expensive point-of-sale hardware.
This strategy aligns with rising device penetration. UCC data confirms that active mobile internet subscriptions grew to 19.7 million in Q2 2026, alongside an increase in active smartphone users to 20.5 million.
Mastercard’s digital agenda includes several tailored initiatives across key economic sectors:
Through its Community Pass platform, Mastercard provides digital credentials to 1.2 million Ugandan farmers. The system works offline, allowing rural farmers to purchase inputs via digital marketplaces and establish credit profiles with commercial lenders.
Having surpassed its global target of connecting 50 million small businesses to the digital economy, Mastercard has integrated 37 million women-led enterprises. Ndlovu highlighted a local success story near Lake Victoria, where a female entrepreneur used partner bank credit to scale her fishing business into regional markets.
Remittance inflows reached $2.5 billion in 2025 (accounting for 3.8% of GDP), narrowly outpacing coffee exports ($2.46 billion). Digital channels facilitate nearly 75% of these inflows, with mobile wallets handling 61% of receipts. Mastercard has lowered transfer fees to roughly 4%, down from the traditional 8% market average, while allowing senders to earmark funds directly for essentials like tuition or healthcare.
Digital transactions streamline regional commerce. “If I’m selling goods in Uganda and want to export to Kenya, I am no longer limited by the physical cash I can carry,” Ndlovu noted, citing reduced transit theft risks and faster payout settlement.
Operating in Uganda since 1999—originally launching with Barclays Bank—Mastercard now manages a dedicated local team in its Kampala office, positioning Uganda as its second fastest-growing market in East Africa. Partnerships with telecom giants Airtel and MTN have enabled virtual cards linked directly to mobile wallets, opening international e-commerce to unbanked individuals.
To secure these transactions, the Mastercard Payment Gateway Services (MPGS) applies artificial intelligence to evaluate over a thousand data points per transaction, including IP addresses and merchant profiles, calculating instantaneous risk scores to protect consumer funds.
Looking ahead, Mastercard is rolling out tap-to-pay wearables for schoolchildren—complete with parental spending controls—and partnering with universities to issue prepaid student cards for tuition and campus dining. The company’s upcoming corporate initiative, B2B Wallet, will facilitate high-value, compliant real-time commercial payments across major global trade pathways, including China.
Ndlovu concluded by reiterating Mastercard’s commitment to collaborating with the Bank of Uganda and regional policymakers to build trusted, secure digital payment networks. “The world is moving forward and not waiting,” he said.
