KAMPALA, July 22, 2026 — Centenary Group, through its technology subsidiary Centenary Technology Services [Cente-Tech], has entered into a strategic partnership with MicroPay Uganda to develop and scale digital solutions aimed at improving access to education, healthcare and insurance services.
The partnership, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU], combines MicroPay Uganda’s digital services platform with Centenary Group’s extensive community reach, technology capabilities and established presence across Uganda.
The collaboration seeks to address everyday challenges that limit individuals and families from conveniently accessing and paying for essential services, while promoting greater financial inclusion through digital innovation.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at Mapeera House in Kampala on Monday, Prof. John Ddumba Ssentamu, Group Board Chairman of Centenary Group, said the partnership builds on the Group’s long-standing commitment to extending meaningful financial inclusion to underserved communities.
“Centenary’s story has always been about the people 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, Cente-Tech and MicroPay Uganda will jointly develop solutions that make education payments and financing more flexible, improve access to healthcare services, and simplify the management of insurance products, premiums and claims through digital platforms.
In the education sector, the partners will explore digital solutions that enable parents and guardians to save towards school fees, make payments in instalments and potentially access financing based on their payment history. The solutions will also provide schools with improved visibility over fee collections and cash flows.
In healthcare, the partnership will leverage digital technology and agent networks to bring services closer to communities, reducing challenges related to distance, accessibility and payment processes.
The insurance component will focus on digitising access to insurance policies, enabling flexible premium payments and improving claims processing, with the aim of making insurance products more accessible and reliable for ordinary families.
Peter Kahiigi, Chief Technology Officer at Cente-Tech, said technology has the potential to eliminate barriers created by geography and income, enabling more people to access essential services.
“ICT is an equaliser. A farmer with a phone can reach the same financial services as an executive in Kampala. Technology does not care where you were born or how much you earn, and when it is built well, it erases distances that money and geography have kept in place for generations,” Kahiigi said.
Cente-Tech will contribute its technology expertise, while Centenary Group will provide its extensive ecosystem and nationwide reach. The partnership builds on the company’s recent launch of GonzaPay, a digital payments platform supported by more than 9,000 Cente Agents across Uganda.
Kahiigi said the success of the partnership would be measured by the real impact it creates for customers.
“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,” he said.
He added that the partnership could eventually support regional expansion, noting that Centenary Group already has operations in Malawi and that successful solutions developed in Uganda could be introduced in other markets where viable.
“MicroPay brings a proven digital services platform. We bring the Group’s reach and the credibility of its name. Neither of us could do this alone at the scale Uganda needs,” Kahiigi said.
Speaking on behalf of MicroPay Uganda, Chief Executive Officer, Dr Grace Stuart Ndyareeba said meaningful financial inclusion requires purposeful partnerships that combine expertise, innovation and community reach.
“The tangible benefits of financial inclusion can only be fully realised through purposeful and visionary partnerships such as this collaboration between MicroPay Uganda and Centenary Group,” she said.
Ndyareeba said MicroPay Uganda brings more than 12 years of experience in digital payments, supported by its licensing as a Payment Service Provider and Payment System Operator under the regulation of the Bank of Uganda [BoU].
“By combining our expertise with Centenary Group’s strong community presence and innovation capabilities, we are confident that together we can transform access to essential services and create lasting impact for our communities,” she said.
She added that the partnership aligns with efforts by the BoU and government to expand access to financial services, particularly among underserved and unbanked populations.
“This partnership is a strong testament to MicroPay’s commitment to extending meaningful financial inclusion to the last person at the lowest level of the economic pyramid within our communities,” Ndyareeba said.
Ddumba emphasised that the partnership’s impact would ultimately be judged by the experiences of the people it is designed to serve.
“Partnerships are not proven at ceremonies like this one. They are proven months later, in bursars’ offices and trading centres, by people who will never read the document we sign today. That is the standard I am asking both teams to hold,” he said.
Through the partnership, Centenary Group and MicroPay Uganda reaffirm their commitment to using technology, collaboration and innovation to advance financial inclusion and create sustainable impact for individuals, families, institutions and communities across Uganda.
https://thecooperator.news/centenary-bank-ngo-collaborate-to-restore-degraded-land-in-mbale/
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