Mobile money is your fastest, most immediately usable option, and it is worth setting up in your first days rather than waiting for a bank account to come through.

Across Uganda (MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money), Kenya (M-Pesa above all) and Rwanda (MTN Mobile Money), mobile money is registered against your SIM card and your passport, and it is usable almost immediately once your SIM is active. It covers an enormous range of daily transactions, paying for goods, transferring money to landlords or staff, topping up utilities, and in many cases it is more widely accepted day to day than a card, particularly in Kenya where M-Pesa is genuinely embedded in daily commerce at every level.

A local bank account is entirely achievable as a foreigner in all three countries, but requirements vary and typically include a valid passport, proof of address (which itself can be a chicken-and-egg problem before you have settled housing), and often either a work permit or evidence of your visa status. Some banks are more accommodating to newly arrived expats than others, and larger international banks with a regional presence, where available, sometimes offer a smoother path if you already bank with them elsewhere.

A realistic first few weeks looks like: get your SIM and mobile money active on arrival, use it for daily spending and small transfers while you settle in, then open a local bank account once you have a permanent address and, ideally, your work permit or residency documentation in hand, which most banks will ask for regardless of what the published requirements state.

Keep an international account and card active in parallel during this transition, since not everything, particularly larger transactions, international transfers, or online payments, works smoothly through mobile money or a newly opened local account in the first few months.