April 2009

Compuscan HQ: How would you describe the highlights of you first year in Uganda?

Compuscan UG: It’s been a real pleasure. Running the Uganda office and working in the country is an experience I will treasure for life. The people are friendly, staff and clients are willing to learn, there are lots of South African families, so it’s kind of like home away from home and the weather on the equator is just perfect. It’s 26 degrees year around. You can’t beat that. On the business side we have focused successfully on three key areas while setting up the credit bureau to deliver the meat behind what credit reporting is all about. Our efforts have been on ensuring that data supply from the participating institutions (lenders) actually happens, rolling out a biometric based ID numbering system built on technology developed at Compuscan’s Head office in Stellenbosch and we have spent a lot of time working with all the stakeholders that are either directly or indirectly affected by the credit bureau to share knowledge about what a credit bureau is about. Uganda is leading the way in East Africa but you need to remember that even here no bureau has previously existed and things like consent and reciprocal data sharing are new terms and concepts that need to be properly understood to get full market support.

Compuscan HQ: Are there any parallels with South Africa and Uganda in terms of the South African bureau and the way in which data is collected?

Compuscan UG: Regulation in Uganda requires that all institutions licensed by the central bank are required to perform credit checks when granting credit. This is similar in some ways to the National Credit Act (NCA). In Uganda there is just a different law dictating that certain things should happen when lending. So in this way there are very big parallels. These same laws and regulations in Uganda wholly exclude certain market sectors from using the bureau even if they wanted to. Similar parallels happened in SA except it related to voluntary data sharing groups or closed user groups. Initially retailers had their exclusive data sharing group (originally the CCA, now CPA), banks had their exclusive data sharing group (originally the Joint Banks Credit Bureau) and at the time micro lenders (now Credit Providers) had their exclusive group (which was run by Compuscan mostly and later it included the National Loan Register).

In SA it took more than fifteen years for the users to reach agreement on sharing data openly between these groups and it looks as if history is repeating itself again here in Uganda.

Compuscan HQ: How are the borrowers reacting?

Compuscan UG: As always, attention to the borrower cannot be underestimated when operating a credit bureau. Borrowers everywhere have rights and these rights need to be protected and respected. People were initially suspicious of the project but the intense awareness campaigns have helped a lot to demystify the credit bureau and ensure it is not a political hot potato or a pro consumer activist target. The media have been exceptionally supportive of the project and the borrowers are looking forward to recording their positive payment profiles. It must be said that it does help that the central bank and the Governor are big supporters of Compuscan succeeding in this project which we are grateful for.

Compuscan HQ: Would you entertain any questions about operating in Uganda from any of our SA clients that might also be interested in expanding to the Pearl of Africa (Uganda)?

Compuscan UG: I firmly believe that Uganda is a market full of opportunity for all types of businesses and yes I’d be more than happy to answer any questions.