Globally, an estimated two-thirds of refugees live in poverty with many having suffered dire socio-economic consequences from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing some of the challenges that refugees face has led to the consideration of avenues to enhance their self-reliance. The often-touted pathway to self-reliance is financial inclusion in the host country. Financial inclusion is defined by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) as the socio-economic ability of an individual, household, or community to meet essential needs in a sustainable manner and with dignity. This is premised on the assumption that, enhancing refugees’ access to financial systems would enhance their capacity to build stronger livelihoods and reduce dependence on humanitarian aid and/or State assistance. This approach requires that the private sector including multinational corporations (MNCs) actively collaborate with traditional humanitarian and development agencies and governments to provide socio-economic solutions that include rather than exclude refugees from financial systems. But the practical realities that many refugees face in host countries rest on exclusion, as policies and laws are developed and implemented in an exclusionary manner, thus making it difficult to pursue comprehensive and sustainable refugee inclusion policies. However, evidence from East Africa indicates that there are now efforts to promote self-reliance for refugees through financial inclusion. This chapter explores the extent to which the implementation of refugee financial inclusion policies and programmes enhances refugees’ financial inclusion in Kenya and Uganda and promotes their self-reliance and local integration. A desk review of secondary sources is utilised to support an analytical research approach. Findings indicate that the current implementation of the self-reliance approach through financial inclusion in Kenya and Uganda is yet to yield the intended results of refugee self-reliance.