KFW DEG

Founded in 2012, Tugende is a Ugandan company that provides finance and business assets to informal sector entrepreneurs and micro, medium, and small-sized enterprises. It offers lease-to-own financing for income-generating assets such as motorcycles (bodas), taxis, matatus, boat engines, and other equipment like smartphones, salon gear, shop fridges, and sewing machines. Tugende also provides value-added services including insurance, safety training, GPS tracking, and genuine parts.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a provider of digital infrastructure in Africa, delivering data, voice, and IP services through a nationwide fiber and satellite network. It operates an extensive fiber backbone spanning about 18,000 kilometers across Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, and South Africa, enabling high-speed internet access for public and private sector enterprises and supporting the digital journey. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Ebène, Mauritius, the company serves as a key connectivity partner across the continent.

awamo provides a cloud-based, mobile-first microcredit and core banking platform for microfinance institutions in emerging markets, with biometric identification and digitized credit, risk, and portfolio management. The software is designed to be platform independent and supports end-to-end digitization of lending operations, enabling MFIs to issue and monitor loans, manage risk, and share credit information with partner lenders. It serves hundreds of microfinance institutions—over 300 institutions and about 450,000 clients in Uganda and Kenya—processing tens of thousands of transactions monthly and moving millions of euros through the platform. By standardizing processes and reducing manual tasks, awamo aims to lower transaction costs and default risk, expand access to affordable credit, and enable additional revenue streams through partner products and services.