Through the Expanding Financial Access and Digital and Financial Literacy (REFAD) Programme in Rwanda, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and its implementing partners have officially launched the Lenga digital financial literacy mobile application.

The implementing partners are; Inkomoko, Equity Bank Rwanda, Umutanguha Microfinance Company, and World Relief Rwanda.

The application was launched on December 9, at Kigali Serena Hotel and is targeting Rwandans who wish to build skills in creating savings plans, drawing a budget, understanding different types of savings groups, comparing financial services, and deciding whether to borrow.

Participants follow a presentation during the launch of  the Lenga digital financial literacy mobile application on December 9

The app currently has six modules that target the financial and digital skills necessary to achieve the skills. It includes both video and audio content with quizzes and activities, along with demonstrations and explanations of key content areas like creating one’s own budget, using mobile money products safely, or thinking about one’s own capacity to borrow money.

The REFAD partners work across the country, and they are now piloting the app along with other financial education programmes in addition to targeted financial services, such as savings groups, digital financial products, and tailored business training.

Roselyne Uwamahoro, UNCDF Rwanda Country Lead said that in Rwanda, the use of mobile phones, including smart phones, has grown exponentially over the past few years, adding that UNCDF and its partners found that there was a great deal of need for people to build their digital skills, and a great deal of excitement for Lenga app during the testing phase of the REFAD project.

"The importance of digital financial education is becoming self-evident, especially in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

Panelists exchange views on Lenga. The implementing partners are_ Inkomoko, Equity Bank Rwanda, Umutanguha Microfinance Company, and World Relief Rwanda. / Dan Nsengiyumva 

"Adequate financial inclusion in these times is dependent on the collective efforts of all players in digital innovations and financial ecosystems to create and distribute fintech products tailored to low-income populations while also improving their digital and financial skills.”

UNCDF usually provides "last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development in the world’s 46 least developed countries.

In 2019, the fund launched its inclusive digital economy strategy (IDE), with a vision to promote digital economies that leave no one behind and a goal of equipping millions of people by 2024 to use innovative digital services to empower them and contribute to achieving the SDGs.

Uwamahoro noted that Lenga app is also intended to support the Government of Rwanda to have 60 per cent of the population being digitally literate by 2024.

Innocent Muhizi, the CEO of Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), commended the app as a great one since it helps people learn about digital financial literacy without moving from where they live, adding that the project aligns with the government’s digital literacy programme.

He said that the government is looking forward to more partnerships to help it achieve the programme’s objectives, adding that beneficiaries should always be put at the centre so that the products can be easily available for them hence being effective.

The application was launched in  Kigali on December 9. Dan Nsengiyumva

Paul Munyemana who uses the Lenga app and is currently training colleagues in Mahama Refugee Camp to use it, said that it has helped them to save money starting from a few and has taught them to make necessary expenses and budgeting for their needs as well as working with financial institutions like Umutanguha.

The app is expected to reach at least 10,000 Rwandans during the REFAD project. However, the app is meant to be used widely, and any Rwandan with an Android device is welcome to download the app and use it to build their own financial and digital skills.

It has been developed over the past year and a half through targeted research and partnerships. The app is in Kinyarwanda and is available for free from the Google Play store.