Welcome to “Microfinance Wekembe – Sapienza”

Hope and hard work through microfinance to fight poverty in Uganda

Wekembe Micro Credit Scheme, is a church founded organization of the Catholic Church by the Late Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, who was Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese. Wekembe’s patron is Archbishop Paul Ssemwogerere, the Archbishop of Kampala Arch diocese.

There are baby steps that can change a life for ever when you live in poverty. Microfinance is one of the most effective, as economists and experts from all over the world say, including Nobel prize winner and micro credit guru Muhammad Yunus.

We give hope and support to low income individuals in Uganda, with a special focus on women, providing financial services and empowerment to get them out of poverty and earn the right to live a proper life as everyone deserves. Founded by the then President of Caritas Uganda, Arch Bishop Cyprian K. Lwanga and working closely to local Community Based Associations we follow an integrated approach that tackles poverty at the grassroots helping more than 12,000 people.

Not only do we support them to shape their own self-sustenance ideas but we assist people gain skills in entrepreneurship, leadership and confidence in society.

Wekembe’s main area of operation is the Metropolitan Kampala Archdiocese including Kampala Archdiocese, Kasana Luweero Diocese, Lugazi Diocese, Kiyinda Mityana Diocese and Masaka Diocese. However currently, Wekembe is operating in 10 civil districts, namely Kampala, Wakiso, Mpigi, Butambala, Mukono, Buikwe, Kayunga, Luweero, Nakaseke and Nakasongola.

Wekembe’s core business/service is:

§ Offering savings and credit services at affordable, but sustainable costs to her targeted clientele, especially for micro businesses, agriculture (crop, animal, fish and poultry), environment, marketing-value addition and cottage industries.

§ Mobilization of her targeted clientele into Community Based Associations for training, working together, advocating and lobbying purposes.

§ Skills training her targeted groups in the different  income generating activities.

Wekembe’s targeted clientele are mainly the vulnerable communities, especially women, youth, the smallholder farmers and small businesses. All the targeted communities are very vulnerable to climate change by virtue of the activities they are engaged in therefore, Wekembe as a priority, mainstreamed climate change and environment issues in all their services.

Ongoing Activities

Climate change Programme

The Wekembe Climate Change program is meant to offer resilience, reduce climate change risks and enhance adaptive and mitigation capacity for the community to climate change effects and variations.
Wekembe therefore looks to facilitate communities to adopt practices which either reduce emissions of green house gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere in the long-term.

Wekembe partnered with ILD, BMZ to start a programme to assist the smallholder households in 10 Districts in Central Uganda to address climate change effects

Activities include:

Climate finance  and capacity building for

• Water Harvesting
• Renewable energy loans (solar, fuel saving stoves, bio gas, briquettes)
• Tree Planting – Agro forestry and woodlots.
• Waste management – Bio digester, recycling and garbage management
• Loans for smart agricultural practices – organic fertilizers, improved breeds & varieties, seed banks, soil management, pasture management.
• Home improvement : Low cost environment housing.

Woodlot, center bio gas production and right, Home improvement – soil stabilized bricks(environment friendly)

Solar Panels installed on a house, center – efficient Energy Saving Stove and right, Agro forestry coffee growing

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Marketing Programme

Wekembe’s core role is financing especially the vulnerable communities, especially women in their small businesses and farming activities for food security and micro commercial farming. However as they are small producers, most of them face problems of marketing their products since they do not have commercial quantities to reach the markets, especially the niche markets.

                    Exhibition clients products. Center, bulking farmers grain. Right Poultry Association

In order to get these small producers access the markets for their products, Wekembe partnered with VKL Stuttgart, BMZ and ILD to start a programme to assist the small household producers in 9 Districts in Central Uganda to start a marketing system in order to access markets for some of their products, especially farm products. The Marketing Project is to strengthen resilience of smallholder communities through improving access to market structures.

(Left is Farmer’s dressed chicken delivery to the market)

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Wekembe works in partnership with: