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The Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL) is a government-owned development financial institution in
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
.


Overview

UDBL which began operating in 1972, was the first development finance institution established by the
government of Uganda The politics of Uganda occurs in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan Bush War, Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an Autocracy, autocrat. Political party, Politi ...
. The main objective of UDBL is to promote and finance development in various sectors of the economy with particular emphasis on agriculture, industry, tourism, housing, and commerce. In June 2018, the government negotiated for a $20 million (USh 76 billion) loan from the African Development Bank to capitalize UDBL, primarily to lend to the agricultural sector for mechanization and value addition. As of December 2024, the bank's loan portfolio was valued at USh 1.67 trillion (US$457.2 million), with total assets of USh 1.71 trillion (US$468.1 million).


History

UBDL was established in 1972. The political leadership in Uganda changed in 1979, and UDBL was then able to obtain large credits from external financiers, like the
African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...
, the
International Development Association The International Development Association (IDA) () is a development finance institution which offers concessional loans and grant (money), grants to the world's poorest developing country, developing countries. The IDA is a member of the World ...
, the
European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...
, the
European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
, the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...
, and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Banque Arabe pour le Développement Economique en Afrique) (BADEA). With these funds, UDBL's focus shifted to financing medium and long-term projects in agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Between 1997 and 2001, the bank was restructured, recapitalized, and re-organized as a limited liability company, wholly owned by the government of Uganda.


Future plans

, the bank had re-organized and repositioned itself to play a larger and more visible role in Uganda's development finance. It has developed a medium-term recapitalization plan (2013-2017) that will increase shareholder's equity from the current USh 100 billion (US$40 million), to USh 500 billion (US$200 million). Its growth plan has been streamlined to harmonize with Uganda's National Development Plan (NDP) and with Vision 2040. Vision 2040 aims to transform Ugandan society from a peasant population to a modern and prosperous country by the year 2040. Some of the development partners that UDBL is working with include the Kuwait Fund, the African Export-Import Bank, BADEA, and the
Islamic Development Bank The Islamic Development Bank (, abbreviated as IsDB) is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There are 57 shareholding member st ...
. In June 2020, the Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, announced its intention of further increase its share capital in UDB from USh 500 billion (US$136 million) to USh 2 trillion (US$545 million). This is part of the bank's five-year strategic plan 2020–2024. In March 2024, management revealed plans to establish five regional offices to take services closer to the bank's clients. The location of the regional offices include the following: * Arua office: Arua City * Gulu office: Gulu City (Established in 2023) * Hoima office: Hoima City * Mbale office: Mbale City * Mbarara office: Mbarara City


Services

UDB's services include short-term loans, medium term loans, long-term loans, equity investments, trade finance loans, and bank guarantees.


Rating

In April 2024,
Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is considered as being one of the " Bi ...
assigned UDBL a National Long-term Rating of ‘AAA (uga)’ with a Stable Outlook, "the highest attainable on Uganda’s national scale".


Board of directors

As of December 2022, UDBL's
board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
consisted of: 1. Felix Okoboi: Chairman 2. John Byaruhanga 3. Frank Tumuheirwe: 4. Nimrod Waniala 5. Henry Balwanyi Magino 6. Silvia Angey Ufoyuru 7. Patricia Ojangole - Managing Director.


Management

As of August 2017, UDB's management team was: 1. Patricia Ojangole: Managing Director 2. Joshua Allan Mwesiga: Director, Strategy & Corporate Affairs 3. Denis Owens Ochieng: Director of Finance & Business Operations 4. Mahamoud Andama: Director Investment 5. Stephen Hamya: Chief Internal Auditor 6. Sophie Nakandi: Bank Secretary/Head Legal.


Awards

In May 2024, UDBL was named "The Regional Bank of The Year - East Africa" at the 18th African Bankers Awards, at a ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya. At the same ceremony, UDBL won the Silver Award (A+ Rating) in the category of Development Finance Institutions for diligently following the guidelines of the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI).


Controversy

According to a 2013 published report, an audit by Uganda's
auditor general An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...
revealed financial impropriety by board members and senior managers at UDBL, leading to financial loss. Both the board and management team involved in the fraud were terminated and the investigation continued as of June 2014.


See also

* Banking in Uganda * Economy of Uganda * List of banks in Uganda *
Trade and Development Bank The Trade and Development Bank (TDB), formerly the PTA Bank, is a trade and development financial institution operating in eastern and southern Africa. TDB is the financial arm of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), al ...
*
East African Development Bank The East African Development Bank (EADB) is a regional development finance institution located in Kampala, Uganda with the objective of promoting development in the member countries of the East African Community. The current member states of th ...
*
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
* List of national development banks


References


External links


Uganda Development Bank Website


As of 3 June 2020.

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