CAPE TOWN - A mobile app has been launched to help Rwandans improve their financial and digital literacy.
Called LENGA, the app was created after 18 months of research by the UN Capital Development Fund’s (UNCDF) project titled “Expanding Financial Access and Digital and Financial Literacy for Refugees and Host Community in Rwanda (REFAD).
The project seeks to bridge the information gap in a Rwandan society with a proliferation of formal and informal financial services and where smartphone usage has drastically increased.
“UNCDF and partners found that there was a great deal of need for people to build their digital skills,” said Roselyne Uwamahoro, UNCDF’s Rwanda Programme lead.
Data Reportal, an internet data analytics company, reported 9.69 million mobile phone connections in Rwanda as of January 2021, which equates to nearly 74% of the landlocked East African country’s population.
“LENGA is geared towards Rwandans who wish to build their skills in creating savings plans, making a budget, understanding different types of savings groups, comparing financial services and deciding whether to borrow,” UNCDF stated.
There are six modules on financial and digital literacy, with video, audio, quizzes, activities and demonstrations to communicate the vital information for Rwandans to make informed decisions.
The app is expected to reach at least 10,000 people during the REFAD project. Available on the Android app store, it uses Rwanda’s official language, Kinyarwanda.
The East African creative and design agency Khanga Rue and the Kenyan-based Busara Center for Behavioral Economics collaborated on LENGA’s development with UNCDF.
ANA