For 100,000 Ugandan children, the beginning of a school term no longer carries the immediate threat of being sent home due to unpaid tuition. Since 2024, the financing platform Furaha has bridged the gap between school fee deadlines and household income cycles, according to a report published by watchdoguganda.com.
Closing the Education Financing Gap
The milestone addresses a persistent financial barrier across the region. According to a 2025 UNICEF report cited by watchdoguganda.com, financial constraints remain the leading reason for both school non-attendance and student dropouts. Families face expenses that extend far beyond tuition, including uniforms, scholastic materials, and daily meals.
Data from the Ministry of Education and Sports illustrates the cumulative impact of these costs on student retention. Of the approximately 1.9 million children who entered Primary One in 2012, only about 142,000 members of that same cohort ultimately registered for Senior Six examinations, as reported by watchdoguganda.com.
Furaha tackles this challenge by connecting families with affordable, short-term school fees financing through commercial banks. Incubated by SC Ventures, the fintech supplies its partner institutions with an advanced lending platform that handles customer onboarding, KYC compliance, alternative-data credit scoring, loan disbursement, and collections. Partner banks in Uganda include Diamond Trust Bank Uganda, Cairo Bank Uganda, Opportunity Bank, and FINCA Uganda, alongside payment aggregators like SchoolPay and SurePay.
Furaha Reaches 100,000 Children Through Parent Commitment
The platform’s rapid adoption stems from a collaborative ecosystem designed around the financial realities of working parents. Speaking to watchdoguganda.com, Furaha CEO Dennis Musinguzi attributed the milestone to the commitment of Ugandan families. “When we launched, our goal was simple: that no child in Uganda should be sent home because fees fell due before the money came in,” Musinguzi said. “Reaching 100,000 children has happened faster than we imagined, and this milestone belongs to Ugandan parents.”
Complementing those remarks, additional coverage noted that Furaha is the first lending fintech in Africa to channel affordable financing from commercial banks towards the substantial need for education financing. Co-founder Yustus Aribariho explained that mobile-money and school-payment records allow institutions to evaluate parents who lack conventional credit histories or formal payslips. Fellow co-founder Ian Fernandes added that no single entity could have kept children in school independently, making a connected network essential, noting, Our role was to connect all these players in one place, making it easier for parents to meet school-fee obligations and keep their children in school, regardless of how they earn.
Board Chair Sanjay Rughani emphasized the social purpose behind the commercial model, stating that financial services must serve fundamental needs like a child’s education, as reported by watchdoguganda.com.
Expanding Reach Across Sub-Saharan Africa
The 100,000-child achievement serves as a stepping stone toward a broader corporate ambition. Furaha has set a target of helping 1 million children stay in school in Uganda by 2028, while projections indicate an ultimate goal of supporting 10 million children across Africa by 2030. UNESCO data highlights the urgency of such interventions, noting that sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly 40% of the world’s out-of-school children. Progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 remains uneven.
Dennis Musinguzi stated regarding the expansion, It shows us that there is an opportunity to build a model around real needs and take what works to more families and more African countries.
Parents seeking short-term school fee financing can access the platform by dialling *165*80# or by downloading the Furaha App from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, with services currently extending to more than 7,000 schools nationwide.
