KCB Bank Uganda yesterday evening marked 10 years in the Ugandan market at a customer dinner held at Kampala Serena Hotel.
The function was graced by the deputy governor, Bank of Uganda, Dr. Louis Kasekende, the KCB Group CEO, Mr Joshua Oigara and other directors of the bank.
Speaking at the event, Joram Kiarie the KCB Bank Uganda MD said: “Today marks a major milestone for us as KCB Bank Uganda as we mark ten years in this market and 120 years since we started out in East Africa. It is a journey that has provided wonderful memories and witnessed the building of useful and lifelong business relationships with our customers.”
KCB Bank Uganda opened its first branch on Commercial Plaza, Kampala Road in November 2007 and has since opened a total of 16 branches, eight of them in Kampala and eight others in major towns around Uganda in Jinja, Mbale, Lira, Gulu, Arua, Hoima, Fort Portal and Mbarara.
The BOU deputy governor, Kasekende, reiterated the impact of technology in the financial sector services.
“Financial services providers need to innovate continuously for them to remain competitive in the face of technological advancement,” in the next decade, the whole sector is going to be characterised by adoption of new technologies,” Kasekende said.
Kasekende commended KCB for supporting community development in the country.
“KCB one was one of the banks we licensed after a moratorium on new banks opening having experienced a spate of bank failures in the late 1990 and I am glad to note that we made the right decision. For us to make that decision your application and foundation had to be strong. This is a major milestone and we congratulate you,” he noted
KCB has grown its asset base to Shs 717 billion, from Shs 59 billion ten years ago with gross loans of up to Shs 231 billion issued to date.
The KCB Uganda board chairman, Aga Sekalala Jr, said the next ten years will see heavy investment in agency banking as a way of deepening the bank’s presence and relevance in Uganda.
“The next years will see heavy investment in digital platforms as we increasingly create more convenience for our customers but also equally purposeful growth in our retail space through agent banking which we will be launching any time now,” Sekalala said.
KCB Bank is one of the lenders that have already secured the regulator’s license to carry out Agent Banking in Uganda.
The bank has carried out successful agent banking in Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Kenya.
On his part, the KCB Group CEO Joshua Oigara spoke about the vibrancy of the Uganda market and the bank’s commitment to change lives for a long time to come.
“The financial sector is at the nexus of enabling real transformation of most of our people and the generation to come, as a bank we want to enable and create opportunities, resources and jobs for the next generation,” noted Oigara.
KCB Bank Uganda has invested over Shs 2.5 billion in communities through its corporate social responsibility arm, the KCB Foundation, in areas of enterprise development, education, health, environment and humanitarian aid.
