Adapting a Matched Micro-Savings Program in a Low-Resource Country, Uganda: Learning from the Global North to Global South-Processes, Opportunities and Challenges

Introduction. Saving is an investment in the future and insurance for many of life’s challenging circumstances. Moreover, accumulated savings are essential in attaining basic needs and serve as security in unforeseen circumstances. Studies indicate that when low-income families are given a chance to save, they do save. But these opportunities have to be created through deliberate institutional mechanisms. This study gives an overview of adapting a micro-savings program using matched micro-savings, also known as youth development accounts (YDAs), from the United States to a low-resourced country in Sub-Saharan Africa--Uganda. Guided by the asset and Institutional theories, we examine the challenges and opportunities encountered by participants and their families during the adaptation process and provide potential implications for the scale-up of these micro-savings programs in low-resourced communities.

Methods. We use data from a longitudinal study called Suubi4Her study (2017 -2023), funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) in which 1260 adolescent girls in senior secondary school (an equivalent high school in the U.S. system) were recruited from 47 schools in five geopolitical districts in southern Uganda. The overall aim of Suubi4Her is to examine an innovative combination intervention– combining family strengthening and economic empowerment – on risk-taking behaviors among school-going adolescent girls. In addition to micro-enterprise and financial literacy workshops, the combined intervention involved participants opening a Youth Development Account (YDA) on which participants saved money that was matched 1:1 by the study monthly. For this study, we used a subset of 690 participants who had opened a YDA. Participants had 30 months of participation during the intervention period.

Results and Implications. Using administrative data from the savings institutions/banks, we find that, on average, participants made one monthly deposit during the 30-month intervention period. The average monthly deposit/savings were Uganda Shillings (UGX) 97,555.92 (an equivalent of USD 26.37). Majority of the participants (77%) who saved were located ~ 2 kilometers away from the bank. In addition, seventy-five percent of the participants who saved were single orphans—who were supported by their caregiving families; and 81% of the participants had no savings before the intervention. Participants who saved and those who did not save were demographically comparable.

Conclusions and Implications: These findings suggest that low-income families can save when given the opportunity. Overall, for the saving intervention to yield its intended benefits, institutional barriers need to be addressed, including financial institutions/banks being closer to the people, allowing for financial literacy that would instill the culture of saving in the young generation.