Rwanda Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has admitted Uplus Mutual Partners to the Fintech Regulatory Sandbox, allowing the firm to test its financial technology (fintech) innovation in a regulated environment. Uplus Mutual Partners Ltd, is the 3rd fintech startup to be admitted into the CMA Fintech Regulatory Sandbox after Moneto Ventures Ltd and IT Consortium Rwanda Ltd, who were admitted last year. “The Authority is delighted to welcome this new innovation for testing in the Capital Markets Fintech Regulatory Sandbox,” Jerome Ndayambaje, CMA’s Manager for Information Technologies and Coordinator for Fintech in Capital Markets, said in a press statement. The sandbox is a framework that seeks to encourage and support the promotion of a variety of fintech innovations that have the potential to deepen and accelerate the capital markets development in Rwanda. The approval allows Uplus Mutual Partners to test its Innovation (Uplus for Investment) for a period of 12 months. The innovation, targeting youth primarily at universities, seeks to promote the culture of saving and investment for retail investors by enabling them to save and invest in collective investment schemes individually or through groups. According to Ndayambaje, if Uplus’ innovation is successful, it will significantly reduce the barriers to entry into the capital markets for retail investors. “The collective investment schemes will be accessible to retail investors in a more convenient manner and the culture of saving and investment will be enhanced by leveraging technology,” he noted. According to CMA, Uplus for Investment blends perfectly with the Capital Market University Challenge, an annual competition programme for university students aimed at promoting the culture of saving and investment. CMA Fintech Regulatory Sandbox is an enabling regulatory environment for Fintech to test their innovative solutions in a small scale and controlled environment before deployment to the wider market. The initiative is in line with Rwanda’s commitment to become a financial technology hub and a proof of concept for fintech.
