Tamsin (right) joins a panel event at the UNHCR's 76th Executive Committee.
As Head of Refugee Finance and living in Uganda myself, I see firsthand the developing displacement crisis in Africa. War, climate change and political turmoil is forcing people to leave their homes and seek safety hundreds of miles away in neighboring countries.
As of mid-2025, only 35% of the 1.9 million refugees in Uganda are receiving humanitarian aid from the World Food Programme and those who are receiving aid are surviving on historically low levels. Rations for new arrivals were reduced from 100% to 60% in May 2023, whilst some less vulnerable refugees received just 22% of the full ration.
This developing crisis was at the forefront of my mind when I was invited to speak at a panel event discussing financial inclusion for refugees as part of the UNHCR’s 76th session of the Executive Committee. I was keen to share what I and my team have witnessed on the ground, and the importance of the work Opportunity International is doing in supporting refugees to become self-reliant.
This Executive Committee was opened by the outgoing High Commissioner Filippo Grande, who gave a passionate speech capturing the unprecedent numbers of refugees globally in the last decade, the daily atrocities that we hear about are intended to make us feel powerless.
But we are not.
The moral obligation to provide refuge to those seeking asylum is found in sacred texts, long before any UN conventions. Political shifts that limit access to funds are making it harder for refugees to live independent and dignified lives.
Tamsin (right) speaking about financial inclusion of refugees at a UNHCR panel.
With acceleration of new humanitarian emergencies, and ongoing funding cuts, it is clear that traditional aid models are no longer enough. Financial Inclusion is one way to fill this gap. And it comes in different shapes and sizes, from entrepreneurs receiving individual loans to kickstart their businesses, to a mother being trained in financial literacy so that she can better manage her finances, to a school creating a savings group for parents to save and manage their money collectively.
I think about the people already making waves through financial inclusion – in Rwmwanja Refugee Settlement I met a woman who was trained in financial literacy and joined two savings groups after her humanitarian aid was cut. With this training and support, she has been able to start a small business selling vegetables outside her home. Then there is the Smart Stitchers saving group, whose members are saving just 50 cents a week with the goal to purchase a sewing machine for the group, which will help them mend and sew clothes to sell, generating an income.
To date, working with our programme partners in Uganda, we have been able to open 26,000 accounts and lend to over 7000 refugees to a value of $4m. Refugees are able to save, grow their businesses, access loans to invest in their farms, and send their children to school. In September 2025, Opportunity Bank of Uganda’s branch in Nakivale had the best country-wide performance terms of portfolio growth and quality.This is in spite of the narrative we hear that refugees are risky and many financial institutions are afraid or unwilling to lend to them. We have proven that with the right systems and partners in place, not only can refugee finance work, but it can also be delivered in a manner that is sustainable for a banking institution whilst building the resilience of the clients themselves.
Now is the time to scale, both inside of Uganda and beyond as the international community is exploring hybrid approaches that balance urgent needs with long-term goals such as refugee self-reliance.
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