Uganda is taking a bold step toward digital financial transformation with the launch of a privately-led Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot, backed by Ugandan treasury bonds.
The initiative, a partnership between Global Settlement Network (GSN) and Diacente Group, introduces a digital Ugandan Shilling (UGX) that runs on blockchain infrastructure while adhering to regulatory compliance, KYC/AML standards, and mobile accessibility through both smartphones and USSD.
This approach could bring secure digital transactions to over 40 million Ugandans, most of whom are mobile-first users and currently underserved by traditional banking systems.
Inside the Partnership
The pilot marks a collaboration between two key players:
Global Settlement Network (GSN): A blockchain infrastructure company known for its GSX Protocol, which enables secure tokenization of real-world assets and interoperability between traditional finance and decentralized systems.
Diacente Group: A Ugandan firm focused on green industrial ecosystems and industrial asset management, championing socio-economic transformation through projects such as the Karamoja Green Industrial & Special Economic Zone (GISEZ).
The digital shilling will be piloted on GSN’s permissioned blockchain, with its value backed by Ugandan treasury bonds, ensuring that the digital currency is supported by real-world assets rather than speculative mechanisms.
According to the partners, the goal is to build a programmable, inclusive, and asset-backed digital economy for Uganda and, eventually, the wider East African region.
A Vision Beyond Currency
The partnership aims to tokenize Uganda’s major infrastructure projects, including:
Agro-processing hubs
Mining operations
Solar power plants
This tokenization will enable fractional participation in industrial development, giving individuals, institutions, and governments access to previously illiquid assets and foreign capital.
By digitizing value creation, the initiative seeks to attract global investors, reduce intermediaries, and enable frictionless cross-border settlements, a long-standing pain point in African trade.
“We’re building infrastructure that goes beyond theory – a programmable economy grounded in real assets, regulatory collaboration, and mass accessibility,”
Alignment with Uganda’s Long-Term Development Vision
This private CBDC pilot aligns with Uganda’s Vision 2040, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) goals of building a digitally integrated, self-sustaining economy.
Anchored by the Karamoja Green Industrial and Special Economic Zone (GISEZ), a flagship national project under Uganda’s Regional Development Plan (2025–2035), the initiative is projected to:
Create over one million jobs
Generate up to $10 billion in annual exports
Strengthen Uganda’s role as a regional hub for digital and industrial innovation
Background: Uganda’s Central Bank and CBDC Ambitions
In 2022, the Bank of Uganda (BoU) officially announced it was exploring the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency, joining countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa in considering digital versions of their national currencies.
At the time, BoU’s Executive Director of Operations, Charles Abuka, stated that the central bank was assessing “the necessity of a CBDC and the issues it is going to help resolve.”
Officials from the BoU even sought insight from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) following Nigeria’s launch of the eNaira, Africa’s first CBDC.
However, this new private-led initiative appears to operate independently of the Bank of Uganda, at least for now. The BoU has not yet issued an official comment regarding the project’s alignment with national policy.
If successful, this initiative could redefine how digital currencies and real-world assets intersect in emerging markets. By combining CBDC technology, treasury-backed tokenization, and mobile accessibility, Uganda could pioneer a model that other African countries adopt to bridge financial inclusion and industrial growth.
As the world continues to test different CBDC frameworks, Uganda’s hybrid approach, privately led but government-backed, may offer a new blueprint for the continent’s digital financial evolution.
Uganda’s private CBDC pilot could set the stage for a new era of asset-backed digital economies in Africa, merging blockchain innovation with real-world impact, from industrial growth to financial inclusion.
