Bank of Uganda (BoU) is using a short-term grant to bolster consumer protection and financial literacy. In an attempt to study consumer protection practices that can be applied in Uganda, the bank has already embarked on knowledge exchanges to both Peru and Mexico.

The goal of the grant is to aid in the development of a consumer protection and literacy strategy well suited for Uganda.

To achieve this, representatives from the Bank of Uganda went to Peru and Mexico on a knowledge exchange. The delegation met with representatives from the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS) del Peru and Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV) of Mexico (both co-hosts of the 2011 Global Policy Forum GPF) and other stakeholders. The BoU first become aware of Peru’s consumer protection framework and Mexico’s school based financial literacy program at the 2010 GPF in Bali.

Currently the BoU is using the knowledge from Peru and Mexico to complete their strategy for consumer protection and financial literacy. Due to AFI’s philosophy of peer to peer sharing, part of Uganda’s strategy will include a curriculum on financial education in schools and tertiary institutions. The Bank will use information from the knowledge exchange visits to draft guidelines on consumer protection.

One difficulty facing many developing countries is the limited available information about financial products and services. This creates hurdles to financial inclusion programs aggravating access to financial. To address this issue, the BoU has been at the forefront of a campaign to promote consumer protection and financial literacy. These efforts have come to fruition through the Financial Literacy and Financial Consumer Protection Steering Group (FLFCP) which receives technical and financial support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

The FLFCP released a report detailing the current status of consumer protection and financial literacy with the report also containing proposals to strengthen these areas. The Steering Group is now working to implement the recommendations.

The BoU has been the main initiative taker concerning the issue of consumer protection and financial literacy, which fits AFI’s philosophy of supporting, as opposed to leading, initiatives within its global network. The results of the BoU’s actions will be shared with the AFI network through the newly established Consumer Empowerment and Market Conduct Working Group (CEMC). Furthermore, the Bank is a member of the Financial Inclusion Data Working Group (FIDWG).

AFI facilitates its members at undertaking knowledge exchange activities to help raise collective awareness of policy solutions, create technical partnerships between countries, and share the experience of countries that have successfully implemented new policy and regulatory solutions. Short term, long term and knowledge exchange grants are available. For more information on grants contact Crispin Bokea .