Centenary Group, through its technology arm, Centenary Technology Services (Cente-Tech), has entered into a strategic partnership with MicroPay Uganda in a bid to strengthen Uganda’s insurance sector by leveraging digital payments, agent banking and financial inclusion to expand access to insurance products and services.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed at Mapeera House in Kampala, extends beyond digital education and healthcare solutions to position insurance at the centre of a broader financial inclusion agenda.
The partnership seeks to simplify how Ugandans purchase insurance policies, pay premiums and receive claims, addressing longstanding challenges that have constrained insurance uptake across the country.
Uganda remains one of the least insured markets in the region, with insurance penetration estimated at below 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), significantly lower than the African average of about 3%.
Despite steady industry growth, with gross written premiums now exceeding UGX 1.6 trillion, millions of Ugandans remain uninsured due to affordability challenges, limited awareness and inadequate access to insurance services.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Centenary Group Board Chairman, Prof. John Ddumba Ssentamu, said the partnership reflects the Group’s long-standing commitment to extending financial services to communities that have traditionally been excluded.
“Centenary’s story has always been about the people that other institutions overlooked. We took banking to the market vendor, to the smallholder farmer and to the family saving a little at a time in a trading centre far from any branch.
That is the legacy entrusted to us: meaningful inclusion, carried all the way to the last mile,” he said.
Under the partnership, the two organisations will focus on digitising insurance services by enabling customers to access policies digitally, make flexible premium payments and receive claims more efficiently.
The model is expected to make insurance products more affordable and accessible, particularly for low-income households and informal sector workers who often struggle with traditional premium payment structures.
Centenary Technology Services Chief Technology Officer, Peter Kahiigi, said their aim is to eliminate barriers created by geography and income.
The partnership builds on Cente-Tech’s growing digital ecosystem, including the recently launched GonzaPay platform and a network of more than 9,000 Cente Agents across Uganda – a network that provides insurers with an established distribution channel capable of reaching rural and underserved communities where conventional insurance intermediaries have limited presence.
“Our measure of success is not this ceremony. It is the first school term where fees flow without queues, and the first claim paid in days instead of weeks. Let us get to work,“ Kahiigi said.
MicroPay Uganda Chief Executive Officer Ndyareeba Grace Stuart said meaningful financial inclusion can only be achieved through purposeful and visionary partnerships such as the collaboration between MicroPay Uganda and the Centenary Group.
“MicroPay brings over 12 years of experience in digital payments, supported by our licensing as both a Payment Service Provider and Payment System Operator under the regulation of the Bank of Uganda,” she said.
