The vision of the Strategy for Financial Literacy in Uganda is that Ugandans have the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their and their family’s personal finances well.

The goals for the Strategy are:

• To improve the ability of the population to manage their money well.
• To equip the population with knowledge and skills to protect themselves against risks and frauds.
• To strengthen mobilization and cost effective use of resources to promote financial literacy.
• To broaden the diversity and quality of initiatives that drive financial literacy
• To promote institutional cooperation among stakeholders in promoting Financial Literacy
• To set in motion a process of increased self-awareness, skill development and appropriate attitudinal
• change for individuals to strengthen positive mindsets towards money generation and management.
• To conduct research and strengthen monitoring and evaluation of Financial Literacy Initiatives.
• To harmonize the National Financial Literacy initiatives / programmes with those of the EAC Partner States.

An essential step towards achieving the National Development Plan's vision for Uganda of a transformed Ugandan society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years is to increase access to affordable financial products and services. This, in turn, requires people:

• to be confident that they will be dealt with fairly by financial services providers; and
• to be financially literate.

However, in Uganda – as in other countries – many people lack the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their finances well. Strengthening financial literacy will contribute to the achievement of the Vision for Uganda.

Financial Literacy is defined, as “Having the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage one's finances well, taking into account one’s economic and social circumstances”, where:

• “knowledge” means having an understanding of personal financial issues;
• “skills” means being able to apply that knowledge to manage one’s personal finances; and
• “confidence” means feeling sufficiently self-assured to make decisions relating to one’s personal finances.

The Bank of Uganda (BOU) has led the development of the Strategy for Financial Literacy in Uganda and will lead its implementation. The preparation of the Strategy for Financial Literacy in Uganda has benefited from the input of stakeholders during a series of stakeholder workshops and in a number of individual meetings and discussions. The continued engagement and efforts of stakeholders across a broad range of sectors will be indispensable if the Strategy is to be successfully implemented and if Uganda is to bring about a genuine and significant increase in the level of financial literacy of its population.

The considerable efforts of a range of organisations to strengthen financial literacy in Uganda have helped to generate valuable experience and expertise and deserve recognition. Because of the way in which engagement in this area has evolved, current initiatives tend, however, to be relatively small-scale and fragmented. The implementation of the Strategy on Financial Literacy will help to ensure that, in future, there will be a fuller, more sustainable and more effective range of programmes than is currently the case. It will also provide focus and momentum, improve co-ordination, encourage collaboration and help to generate active support from a fuller range of stakeholders.

The guiding principles which have governed the development, and will govern the implementation, of the Strategy for Financial Literacy in Uganda are:

• working in partnership;
• using a broad range of methods and channels;
• prioritising;
• taking advantage of teachable moments;
• consumer testing of proposed initiatives and materials;
• monitoring and evaluation;
• learning from experience, including from other countries, other sectors and other disciplines;
• communicating effectively; and
• cost-effectiveness

The implementation of the Strategy for Financial Literacy in Uganda will be in the interests of individuals, financial services providers and of the country as a whole. In particular, it will help individuals to manage their personal finances better; they will be less likely to suffer losses; they will be more likely to be financially included; and they will be able to choose from more competitively priced financial services and products.

Financial services providers will have a larger market in which to compete; and their clients will be better informed. For Uganda as a whole, the implementation of the Strategy for Financial Literacy in Uganda will increase financial inclusion; will help to promote a sound financial system; and will help to take the poor out of poverty.