Project Year

2014

Region(s)

East Africa

Country(ies)

Uganda

Project Description

The use of electronic payment methods in exchange for goods and services is a new venture in Uganda, a country that is traditionally cash based. The delay in the adoption of the e-payment system in Uganda can be associated with the fact that the traditional banking services that have been in place for many years have mainly favored the elite, big companies, salary earners, urban dwellers, and the rich. However, the introduction of mobile banking in 2008 has seen tremendous changes in the money landscape and business industry. Unlike banks, mobile money services can be used by everyone as long as they have access to a phone. With over 12 million registered mobile money users, it is no wonder that the adoption of e-payment methods is growing in the country. Big service companies like the National Water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC) have embraced the e-payment system alongside cash based payment methods with the hope of improving service delivery. Central to these interventions is the consumer’s choice of what payment method to use. By applying a Nested Multinomial Logit Model, this study seeks to examine the factors that drive people’s choice of a payment method (disaggregated by gender, social class, geographical location, and physical capacity, among other factors). The study will also apply statistical analysis methods to evaluate the impact that the e-payment system has on the informal and fraudulent practices that have been experienced in a physical payment system, and to determine whether new forms of fraud have emerged.

Researcher(s)

Howard Tugume, Justine Kobusinge, and Justine Nanteza

About the Researcher(s)

Howard Tugume is an economist with expertise in business management, business start-ups, market analysis, and economic modeling. He holds a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Copenhagen and a B.A. in Economics from Makerere University, Uganda. He is a former recipient of the DANIDA Emerging Leaders Fellowship Programme. He has worked on different projects as a PI as well as a Co-PI. His master’s research (funded by DANIDA) aimed at understanding the drivers of new technology adoption among pastoral farmers in Uganda. One of the key findings in this study was that the elderly, the poor, and the landless do not adopt modern technologies easily, and that modern technologies on feed and breed are likely to improve the lives of pastoralists. In collaboration with other researchers, Howard was part of a study to assess the capacity of church dioceses in general organizational, programmatic, and transformational development capacities for good partnership in cross-cutting areas such as disaster management, conflict, gender, and the environment for the Church of Uganda. He is also a Co-PI on an ongoing CODESRIA funded project (in partnership with Makerere University) entitled “Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and Adaptive Capacity to Climatic Risks among Spatially Heterogeneous Households in Fragile Landscapes in Uganda: The Case of Lake Kyoga Basin.” His main contribution to this project lies in the application of economic concepts to food security analysis. Besides research, Howard is an experienced consultant for business start-ups and market analysis. One of his recently completed consultancy works involved the market assessment of Concern World Wide’s improved livelihood security through provision of vocational skills in Karamoja Programme. He also heads the Business Incubation Project (BIP) at Benda Associates Limited. The aim of the BIP project is to develop service oriented business ideas into real executable and running businesses.

Justine Kobusinge graduated in 2011 with a B.A. in Economics from Kyambogo University, Uganda. She is a former recipient of the Uganda Government Merit Scholarship for University undergraduate studies. During her undergraduate studies, she held a part time job as a research assistant at ARISE development consultants (2010-2011). Upon graduation, she secured a job as a research officer at the Innovation for Poverty Action (IPA) lab in Uganda. She has great experience in field research gained from her employment at IPA. She has skills in questionnaire designing, research respondents identification and recruitment, research interviews, data entry and analysis, as well as research ethics. The IPA projects she has worked on include the network effect on SMEs, and baseline and midline surveys. Justine is currently enrolled in a M.A. in Economic Policy Management at Makerere University.

Justine Nanteza graduated in 2011 from Makerere University Business School with a B.A. in Entrepreneurship and Business Management. Her great performance in undergraduate studies secured her a teaching assistant academic job at Makerere University Business School. She won a graduate assistant fellowship to undertake a M.B.A. in 2013. Her current job involves teaching undergraduate courses during different periods of the academic year as well as guiding students in their undergraduate research works for the programmes of Business Administration, Entrepreneurship and Business Management Procurement, and Supply Chain Management. She also carries out research for the Department of Business Administration and some of her research works include: “An Evaluation of Entrepreneurship as a Mechanism for Wealth Creation with an Objective of Establishing the Relationship that Exists Between Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation with the Case Study of Techno Serve, Uganda.”

 

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