Use evidence to boost financial inclusion for world's refugees

Jacklyn Amina, a Burundian refugee, working on vehicle at a garage in Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County. [File, Standard]

As the world's key actors in the financial services community converge to mark the Financial Inclusion Week 2023 that started on October 16, the more than 100 million displaced people continue to endure the weight of increasingly poor living conditions, exacerbated by conflicts, rising commodity prices and climate change.

Currently, there at least 5.1 million refugees and asylum seekers in the East, Horn of Africa, and Great Lakes Region with a significant number in urban areas. Uganda is home to 30.1 per cent of this population. Its capital, Kampala, hosts over 140,000 refugees, while Nairobi has nearly 100,000 refugees.