The National Informational Technology Authority (NITA-U) on Thursday held a meeting with Uganda Banker’s Association in which both parties agreed to collaborate on strengthening online services in Uganda, officials said in a statement.
Speaking at the event which was held at Royal Suites, Bugolobi in Kampala, Peter Kahiigi, the acting executive director at NITA-U, said that the partnership was crucial since banks are big players in the financial sector which is a bridge to financial inclusion.
“Government of Uganda is in the process of implementing a Payment Gateway that will enable online payments for all Government services; and as well be utilized by interested private sector business enterprises to receive payments for their supplies, in a bid to promote e-Commerce and financial inclusion in Uganda. We need Uganda Bankers Association as a key partner to ensure citizens can pay for services in a convenient and efficient way,’’ Kahiigi was quoted in the statement.
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Wilbrod Humphreys Owor, Executive Director, Uganda Banker’s Association said the partnership would help in solving the bottle-necks like the cost of delivery of financial services, difficulty in penetration of services throughout the entire country as well as high cost of infrastructure.
“We look forward to what we hope will be a long-term partnership with NITA-U, there is enormous collaboration potential that we need to urgently explore,” he said, according to the statement.
According to Vivian Ddambya, a director of Technical Services at NITA-U, the Authority will continue to use its resources to support bankers in multiple ways. She also updated the attendees on the government’s progress on connectivity
“There are 2,400 Km Optic Fiber laid with 3 uplink connections across 3 countries. 33 towns connected with 342 MDA/LG sites connected. Also, there 27 transmission sites, a 24/7Network Operations Centre ensuring 99.9% Network availability,’’ she said, according to the statement.
Arnold Mangeni, the director of Information Security at NITA-U highlighted the government’s role in The National Information Security Framework (NISF) in ensuring cyber security.
“The NISF defines the minimum information security controls that National Critical Information Infrastructure (NCII) operators must apply to reduce their vulnerability to cyber threats.’’ He added that NITA-U will work with Uganda Bankers association to customize the NISF to the Financial Sector which will safeguard online financial transactions in the country.
The discussion focused on Cybersecurity, ICT Infrastructure: Hosting and Connectivity, E-Government Services such as Integration and other Shared like Electronic Payment gateway Service, Electronic Government Procurement Service, Mobile Identification (Mobile ID) and Digital Signatures Service.
NITA-U and UBA both concluded this morning’s meeting with an affirmation that the partnership should be strengthened such that the UBA membership and Ugandan citizens can start to enjoy convenient, secure and reliable banking services.
The meeting attracted key players in the Banking sectors, Telecoms as well as key officials from NITA-U.
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