It was an immense honor for Rural Development Foundation (RDF) to participate in the African Inclusive Finance Week (SAM 2025), the continent’s largest and most significant financial inclusion event. Held every two years, this five-day forum brings together key representatives—including investors, microfinance institutions (MFIs), researchers, and government officials—who converge to design strategies that advance financial inclusion across the continent.

The SAM Conference stands as the foremost forum dedicated to the advancement of financial inclusion throughout the African continent. It serves as a convergence point for a diverse spectrum of stakeholders, including investors, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), banking institutions, researchers, innovators, and policymakers, who are collectively committed to fostering a more inclusive and resilient financial ecosystem. We are honoured to have participated in this esteemed event.

The 2025 edition took place from October 13 to 17 at the magnificent Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Kenya. The event provided a global stage to discuss the future of financial services, offering critical insights that will shape RDF Uganda Financial Inclusion efforts. Our attendance underscored our unwavering commitment to empowering rural communities, expanding access to financial services, and contributing to sustainable economic growth in Uganda and beyond. For RDF, SAM 2025 was a vital platform to learn, network, and strengthen our unique model for holistic rural transformation.

More Than Microfinance: Our 4 Pillars of Empowerment

For many years, RDF has been recognized as a dedicated microfinance institution, providing affordable financial services to the under-served. While microfinance remains a foundational pillar, our participation in SAM 2025 reaffirmed our broader vision: achieving a transformed African community that is fully empowered socially, financially, and economically.

Our core philosophy remains: to address the root causes of poverty, ignorance, and disease by bridging financial gaps and uplifting underserved populations. This goal requires a synchronized, four-pronged approach that moves beyond credit alone. This integrated approach is the core of our success and is realized through our four interconnected solutions, making RDF Uganda Financial Inclusion a model of comprehensive development:

Microfinance: The Engine of Economic Empowerment

Our microfinance pillar serves as the economic engine for rural entrepreneurs. We provide unsecured credit facilities tailored to the client’s needs, covering essential purposes: Agriculture, Livestock, Business, and Education. By strengthening our capacity, we can ensure that RDF Uganda Financial Inclusion reaches the most remote areas. Our loan products prioritize affordability and flexible terms. For example, our Agricultural Loans are structured to meet the client’s cash flow sequence, including a vital grace period of up to 3 months to align with harvesting cycles. This investment fosters eco-friendly agricultural practices and secures livelihoods, driving rural transformation.

Education Programs: The Key to Breaking Cycles

We maintain an unwavering commitment to our education initiatives, rooted in the belief that knowledge is the ultimate tool for breaking poverty cycles. Crucially, we ensure clients receive financial literacy training before credit facilities are advanced. This policy, essential for driving sustainable RDF Uganda Financial Inclusion, is fundamental to improving financial management, ensuring loans are invested wisely, and turning affordable credit into long-term prosperity.

Sanitation & Health: Building Clean Communities

Improved sanitation directly correlates with improved health and daily life. Our Sanitation Programs promote healthier communities by funding and facilitating improved hygiene and sanitation solutions. This directly tackles the core problem of disease. We offer specialized Sanitation Loans which feature a flexible repayment period of up to one year. This focus on “Clean Communities” ensures the financial gains from microfinance are not eroded by preventable health expenses.

Social Enterprise: Innovation and Local Impact

Through our Social Enterprise pillar, we support local ventures that are structured to create both positive social and economic impact. By fostering these enterprises, RDF helps create much-needed jobs and strengthen local markets, demonstrating that business success and community benefit can and must go hand-in-hand. This support is key to nurturing local innovation and solving social issues from the inside out.

Key Takeaways from SAM 2025: Scaling RDF Uganda Financial Inclusion

The opportunity to collaborate and network with key stakeholders at the KICC was invaluable. The collective wisdom and discussions at SAM 2025 reaffirmed and strengthened several core principles that will guide our future work to scale RDF Uganda Financial Inclusion:

• The Centrality of Agriculture: Discussions highlighted the non-negotiable role of agriculture-friendly credit facilities, coupled with expert Agricultural Advisory Services. This specialized support is essential to help farmers adopt modern, eco-friendly practices that build resilience against climatic and market shocks, a clear mandate for RDF’s loan structure.
• Financial Literacy is Non-Negotiable: The overwhelming consensus was that embedding financial literacy is the single best preventative measure against over-indebtedness. Our existing practice of advancing knowledge before credit was strongly validated as a best-practice model for sustainable financial inclusion.

• The Power of Partnership: Connecting with a wide array of donors, development agencies, and fellow MFIs confirmed that tackling financial exclusion requires collective, collaborative effort. Our team returned from SAM 2025 ready to expand our network of partners and accelerate rural transformation.

RDF is proud of our commitment to empowering rural lives. Events like the African Inclusive Finance Week (SAM 2025) energize us to continue building a better, more resilient future for the under-served, guided by the vision of a fully empowered community.

To learn more about how we are driving rural transformation across all four pillars, visit our Our Solutions page.