Ugandans increasingly embracing e-payment

A survey carried out in Uganda shows that use of mobile money to pay for services has increased. FILE PHOTO | NATION 

In Summary

• New survey puts use of e-payment in Uganda at 52 per cent as majority of citizens opt for mobile money compared with cash transactions.
• Since 2011, the government has invested in ICT infrastructure to digitise government services and enactment of relevant laws.
• Inadequate funding, lack of infrastructure and inadequate number of staff are among challenges affecting implementation of e-government initiatives.

By BAMUTARAKI MUSINGUZI
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Ugandans are increasingly embracing e-payment, and the government is pledging to promote cashless transactions to improve efficiency.

A new survey puts use of e-payment in Uganda at 52 per cent as majority of citizens opt for mobile money compared with cash transactions.

The survey by the National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (NITA-U) found that mobile payment for utility bills was the most used e-government service at 62.6 per cent, followed by online registration for tax identification number.

Others were online payment for taxes, UNEB e-services (exams registration status, results and time tables), know your UNEB Examinations results and NSSF e-statement and business name search and reservation.

“Interestingly, as the research findings may highlight, the majority of those who use the Internet use social media sites, such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. Here we see opportunity for MDAs and local governments to leverage these platforms to offer swift and cost effective services. Given the growing mobile phone and Internet access rates across the country,” said Vincent Bagiire, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ICT and National Guidance.

Challenges

The survey found that inadequate funding, lack of infrastructure and investment and inadequate number of staff are among challenges affecting implementation of e-government initiatives.

E-commerce, the survey found, is still a nascent service, with only 1.7 per cent of individuals having ever made an online purchase.

According to the survey, impediments to e-commerce are customers’ preference for physical interaction with goods before purchase, trust and privacy concerns and security of payment details.

Dr Fredrick Kitoogo, director of planning, research and development, who represented NITA-U’s workshop, urged MDAs to embrace e-government.

“We cannot afford to wait. We have the youngest population in the world and it is growing. E-government is one of the ways we will ensure efficient and transparent service delivery to an increasingly tech savvy generation,” he said.

“http://ecitizen.go.ug allows one to access services such as e-tax, business registration, trading licence registration and social security statements,” Mr Kitoogo added.

The report noted that within MDAs, ICT personnel now account for only 1.9 per cent of the total work force, an improvement from 1.6 per cent in 2012/13, the proportion of ICT personnel is still low to match government’s ambition to mainstream ICT in its operations to improve efficiency in service delivery.

Digitised services

Since 2011, the government has invested in ICT infrastructure to digitise government services and enactment of relevant laws and regulations to set standard for the industry.

According to Mr Bagiire, the findings should offer guidance on what government needs to improve access and roll out of ICT projects to improve service delivery.

“In the process, as a country, our ICT global rankings will also improve and most importantly ICT sector shall be vibrant with greater capability of driving sustainable development through creation of jobs and provision of services,” said Mr Bagiire.