Ecobank Uganda records 60 percent growth in assets

Ecobank Uganda has recorded a 60 percent growth in its assets from shs. 420 billion to shs. 671 billion. This is according to its 2019 results that they released this week.

The report also indicated that Ecobank’s customer deposits grew from shs. 288.3 billion in 2018 to shs. 550 billion in the year 2019. This growth in deposits enabled the bank to increase lending from shs. 132.6 billion to shs. 163 billion.

According to the same report, Ecobank’s expenditure grew from shs 41.7 billion to shs 51.7 billion, which represents a 24 percent increase. The total income recorded in 2019 represented a 21.3 percent increase from 47.8 billion registered in 2018 to shs 58 billion in the same period.

Kin Kariisa, the Board Chairman of Ecobank Uganda said that the growth in the bank’s balance sheet positions Ecobank in a better place for growth that is sustainable.

Kariisa said that the growth would also be crucial post COVID-19 because they expect major changes in the way people bank.

“The wider base we have created in the digital space allows us to serve our customers quicker and even more importantly providing convenience to the customers going forward,” Kariisa said.

Ecobank’s Managing Director Clement Dodoo attributed the growth to their investment in innovative Corporate, SME and consumer solutions, which have attracted deposits.

“In 2019, we upgraded our core banking platform from Oracle Flexcube 7 to a more robust Oracle Flexcube 12-4 which is a real-time onine solution that has enabled us to serve our customers more seamlessly in line with our digitization agenda,” Dodoo said.

Ecobank was also recognized internationally in 2019 and it was awarded with two International Organisation for Standardisation certificates due its information security management systems (ISO/IEC 27001) and its business continuity management systems (ISO 22301).

The bank also received the British Standards Institution (BSI) and according to them, these awards give Ecobank a competitive advantage and publicly demonstrate their legal and regulatory compliance.

Ecobank’s success can be accredited to their strong executive management team which include Henry Lubwama, their former Board Chairperson that was at helm of the bank from 2012 and early 2019. Lubwama laid a strong foundation for the current board chairman, Kin Kariisa.