Kampala, Uganda — The myth that the poor do not save will soon be forgotten said Moses Kaggwa, Commissioner for Micro Finance, Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) during the National Microfinance Conference at Hotel Africana recently.

"The myth that the poor do not save has been shattered by Micro finance institutions, the poor actually save and they are credit worthy," explained Kaggwa.

Kaggwa however noted that despite the so many micro finance institutions and banks in place, there are still a large number of Ugandans who are financially excluded.

He noted that this is not only in Uganda but the world over. Kaggwa added there has been a lot of improvement in the financial services for instance mobile banking. He said the trend is challenging when it comes to families.

"Mobile money banking has created efficiency but the challenge is that some women now complain that their husbands would come home more often but now they take so long because they can easily send money home," Kaggwa noted.

Uganda's Finance Minister, Ms. Maria Kiwanuka noted that microfinance institutions are important in helping the rural person get access to finance. She cited the fact that the main problem of the rural people is not managing finance but accessing it.

She was speaking at the National Micro Finance Conference at Hotel Africana last week.

The workshop was organized to brain storm on the way forward for micro finance in the country. First deputy prime minister General Moses Ali said microfinance institutions are important for collective effort to fight poverty quoting the world bank report which says that 1.4 billion in the world live on less than Us $ 1.25 a day.