Summary:

• A delegation of 80 African Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) will visit Kampala for a benchmarking tour on Sustainability Standards organized by the African Association of Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) in collaboration with the European Organisation for Sustainable Development.

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Delegations of at least 80 development finance instructions (DFIs) from Africa are due in Kampala next week for a benchmarking tour on Sustainability Standards. The benchmarking visit is organized under the umbrella African Association of Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) in cooperation with the European Organisation for Sustainable Development and hosted by the Uganda Development Bank (UDB).

It is aimed at sharing experiences, and helping others learn from UDB on how it is managing in embracing and adopting “the rigorous Sustainability Standards.” AADFI is an international organization created under the auspices of the African Development Bank in 1975, with membership of over 80 DFIs, spread across the African continent.

This event is expected to enable the African FDIs to achieve world-class corporate governance to create social, economic, and environmental impact, and tackle climate change. Cyril Okoye, the Secretary General of AADFI, says the 2-Day Executive Visit by the leaders of the African financial sector is an opportunity for Uganda to demonstrate to the world its contribution to the global sustainable development agenda.

“UDB will showcase how it is complying with the Sustainability Standard’s latest version to ensure it plays a game-changing role in revolutionizing the agriculture sector, industrializing Uganda, and boosting the services sector,” he said. The financial industry globally is adopting environmental, social, and government frameworks to ably choose sustainable projects in which to invest. Climate change, the welfare of the people, and good corporate governance are at the center of these standards.

Different financial standards agencies have hailed UDB’s performance in implementing the Sustainability Standards, making it a focal point in the field of sustainable banking and finance space for financial institutions, including development finance institutions commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions, and microfinance banks.

“We will share with the visiting delegates our experiences in the implementation of Sustainability Standards. We will also address the issue of the growing risk of greenwashing that cannot only cause reputational damage but also hinder investments in the sustainable development of the countries,” said Patricia Ojangole, the Managing Director of UDB. Greenwashing involves making an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally friendly or have a greater positive environmental impact than they do.

“Some of the topics for discussion will include governance and management, digitalization, products, human capital, stakeholder engagement, risk, and climate change.” AADFI considers UDB a leader in this space attracting the attention of investors, bankers, and other stakeholders around the world, for its progress in sustainable banking and finance over the last few years.

For three consecutive years, the Bank and its Managing Director, have been awarded the Sustainability Leader of the Year award at the global prestigious Karlsruhe Sustainability Awards held in Germany. However, the Bank considers its current role as a welcoming beginning and is currently putting all its efforts into complying with the world’s most comprehensive Sustainability Standards Version 2.0.

UDB is preparing itself to be a powerful force in fast-tracking Uganda’s sustainability journey to become a fully developed, industrialized, and climate-friendly country. In 2018, UDB embarked on the adoption and implementation of the Sustainability Standards and Certification Initiative (SSCI) to position the Bank for sustained success and respond positively to the factors that shaped and disrupted its business and operating environment.

SSCI delivers a holistic, robust, evolving, and locally sensitive set of standards to make value-driven financial institutions more resilient and profitable. It enables those institutions to create new income streams and thrive for the long term in an ever more volatile world and provides new opportunities for mobilizing funds to finance businesses and projects creating high social and environmental impact.

Since UDB started implementing the standards in April 2019 and in July 2020 after submitting evidence supporting compliance with the standards, it has been awarded the highest level of certification, the SSCI Level 5 Certification. The Bank says it has enjoyed numerous benefits which have included setting a new strategic direction and alignment with the National Development Plan.