Inside Uganda’s emerging fintech ecosystem
Narenga: Uganda’s fintech revolution
TECHNOLOGY FINTECH
Fintech – the world’s youngest industry
Narenga: Uganda’s fintech revolution
Narenga
Narenga is a district in Nanyuki province, where the Ugandan capital Euchare is located. It is the second-largest district in the country and the home of the University of Nairobi.
With a population of over 1 million people, the district is one of the most densely populated communities in Africa. The average age here is 37; more than 70 percent of the population are young people between the ages of 18 and 24.
“The people here, they do a lot of things with technology,” says Kareen Mwende, the district governor. “I can call people, they answer the phone. I can send messages, I can talk to people. It’s like a social platform.”
Narenga is full of entrepreneurs and businesses that use technology to make their lives easier. Most people here have smartphones; they use apps in their daily lives.
These mobile devices are connected to the Internet via mobile phones or laptops. In Nanyuki, mobile phone subscriptions were 10 million in the year 2000, according to UNU Communication, an Institution of Science and Technology.
Mwende says the most popular mobile phone app in Nanyuki is ChatZilla, which is used by more than 25,000 people. Another popular app is Skype that has more than 5,000 users.
Nanyuki has also become a hotbed of innovation. In December 2012, the government launched the Nanyuki Innovation Lab. It is the country’s first incubator and accelerator program for emerging technology companies.
The incubator program is aimed at fostering knowledge through the use of “innovative entrepreneurial thought-leaders”.
The program’s first batch of participants includes four technology firms.
One of them is The Nanyuki Academy, an information services company. It uses the technology and content created at the incubator to help develop content on social media channels and online content for mobile devices