Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba, Deputy Governor, Bank of UgandaBank of Uganda (BoU) has decried the high cost of transacting money through digital platforms, saying this has hampered the penetration of digital currency in Uganda.The concern was raised by Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba, Deputy Governor, Bank of Uganda during the Annual Financial Inclusion Forum held at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala on November 6, 2025 2025.Nuwagaba said Somalia is ahead of Uganda, noting that beggars on streets use their phones to request for support.“In Somalia, because I’m still working with them, we don’t have money, this money you have in the pocket. No one has anything called money. Somalia uses digital money. There are two countries in the world whose currency is digital, Somalia and the Netherlands, of course, for different reasons, both of them. Even the beggars in Somalia beg with a phone, and even if she doesn’t, or he doesn’t have a phone, he has a phone number in the palm of his hand, and people give, this is the level of digitization that these people have, and the level of inclusion we are talking about,” said Nuwagaba.His concerns come at the time when the Bank of Uganda Integrated Annual Report 30th June 2025 that was released recently revealed that in 2025, UGX193.757Bn was spent on printing new notes, an increase from UGX174.209Bn the Bank spent on the same item in 2024, while the Central Bank also spent UGX9.803Bn in minting coins, up from UGX13.299Bn spent in 2024.“Most of these commercial banks have been looking on the supply side, but we need also to look at the demand side. Can I use your product? Is your product usable? On the digitisation, while we are moving very slow on digitisation, it is still very extremely costly to make a digital transaction here, a commercial digital transaction,” he said, adding that people prefer driving or travelling to settle payments because it’s cheaper.Nuwagaba also noted that Uganda has had tremendous progress on its financial inclusion with the most recent data from the World Bank, the Findex report for January 2025 indicating that 73% Ugandans have an account with a financial institution, which he said was a very great leap forward from the last Finiscope study in 2013, that placed this figure at 23%.Minister for Finance, Matia Kasaija noted that Uganda has made significant strides in advancing financial inclusion through the implementation of wealth creation funds like the Parish Development Model where over UGX3.261Trn has been disbursed, while over UGX308.6Bn has been disbursed through Emyooga.He said, “Through the PDM financial inclusion pillar, UGX3.261Trn has been disbursed to PDM SACCOs, directly impacting over 3.26 million beneficiaries. Similarly, the Emyooga programme through the Microfinance Support Centre has disbursed UGX308.6Bn for 7,008 SACCOS, benefiting more than 773,000 individuals. Additionally, through the generating growth opportunities and productivity for women entrepreneurs, which is GROW project, UGX73.34Bn has been lent out to women-led enterprises.”Held under the theme; Access to Usage; Advancing Inclusive Financial Product Uptake in Uganda, the gathering is a testament to Uganda’s shared commitment to weaving financial inclusion into the very fabric of Uganda’s development.“We need to note that a bank account that lies dormant or credit that remains untapped does not fuel growth. True empowerment lies in the active, informed and sustained usage of financial tools, saving products that build resilience, credit that fuels enterprise, development and growth, insurance that mitigate risk and investment that secure the future. This is how we translate access into tangible improvements in financial health and household well-being,” remarked Kasaija.The Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor also called for the ban of gospel teaching that discourages Christians from making money, arguing that the Bible has 31,102 verses in its 66 books, and out of those verses in the Bible, 2,520 verses are on money.“The whole, a quarter, 25% of the Bible, of 66 books, is on money, talking about money. So therefore, we should not accept gospels in the country which is going to tell people not to work, telling people not to be in economic activity. The Bible itself, a quarter of it, is saying if you don’t work, you should not eat. And therefore, please tell people to be in financial sector, people to participate in economic activity,” remarked Nuwagaba.The post BoU Decries High Cost of Digital Transactions As Gov’t Disburses UGX3.2Trn Under PDM appeared first on Business Focus.