Julius Kakeeto Elected as New Chairman of Uganda Bankers’ Association

Summary:

• The Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) elected Julius Kakeeto, CEO of Post Bank Uganda, as its new Chairman during their annual meeting on May 17, 2024. He succeeds Sarah Arapta. Other key appointments include Michael Mugabi as Vice Chairman, Edgar Byamah as Treasurer, and Mumba Kalifungwa as Auditor.

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KAMPALA, (Examiner) – The Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) held its annual general meeting on May 17, 2024, where Mr. Julius Kakeeto was elected as the new Chairman. Mr. Kakeeto, the CEO of Post Bank Uganda, previously served as Vice Chairman and succeeds Ms. Sarah Arapta, whose term ended after serving from 2021 to 2023.

Joining Kakeeto on the UBA Executive Committee are Michael Mugabi, CEO of Housing Finance Bank, as Vice Chairman; Edgar Byamah, CEO of KCB Bank, as Treasurer; and Mumba Kalifungwa, CEO of Absa Bank, as Auditor. Additional members elected include Sanjay Rughani, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank; Patricia Ojangole, CEO of Uganda Development Bank; and Shafi Nambobi, CEO of UGAFODE. Wilbrod Owor, UBA’s Executive Director, continues as Secretary to the Executive Committee.

Established in 1981, the UBA represents financial institutions licensed and supervised by the Bank of Uganda. It currently comprises 36 members, including 25 commercial banks, 3 development banks, and 8 Tier 2 and Tier 3 institutions.

In her farewell remarks, Sarah Arapta identified fraud, tax administration, and dispute management as key challenges facing the industry. She urged the new leadership to persist in addressing these issues and to promote gender initiatives under the UBA Women Economic Empowerment Programme.

Despite these challenges, Arapta highlighted significant industry growth, including an 8% increase in total assets from UGX 45.8 trillion in 2022 to UGX 49.5 trillion in 2023, and a 7.8% rise in customer deposits from UGX 31.5 trillion to UGX 33.96 trillion over the same period. Industry loans grew by 7.6%, with household and personal loans, real estate, trade, manufacturing, and agriculture comprising the top five sectors.

Additionally, banking access expanded with 33,437 agent banking points, 984 ATMs, and 856 branches by the end of 2023. The industry’s tax contributions increased to UGX 1.29 trillion, and spending on ICT rose to UGX 694 billion. The sector employed 19,428 people, with a gender distribution of 53% female and 47% male.