The Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL) is a government-owned

development bank A development financial institution (DFI), also known as a development bank or development finance company (DFC), is a financial institution that provides risk capital for economic development projects on a non-commercial basis. , total commitme ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

Overview

UDBL which began operating in 1972, was the first development finance institution established by the

government of Uganda Uganda is a presidential republic in which the President of Uganda is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government business. There is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is ...

. 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 2021, UDBL's total assets were valued at USh 1.222 trillion (US$324.4 million). At that time, shareholders' equity was USh 1.055 trillion (US$280 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) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...

, the

International Development Association The International Development Association (IDA) (french: link=no, Association internationale de développement) is an international financial institution which offers concessional loans and grants to the world's poorest developing countries. Th ...

, the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

, the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization 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 Lisb ...

, the

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...

, and the

Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) (Banque Arabe pour le Développement Economique en Afrique) (المصرف العربي للتنمية الاقتصادية في أفريقيا) was established pursuant to the resolution o ...

(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 African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

, BADEA, and the

Islamic Development Bank The Islamic Development Bank ( ar, البنك الإسلامي للتنمية, abbreviated as IsDB) is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi A ...

. 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.

Services

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

Rating

In February 2019,

Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency and is one of the " Big Three credit rating agencies", the other two being Moody's and Standard & Poor's. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) ...

assigned UDB a rating of B+ (stable outlook).

Board of directors

As of August 2018, UDBL's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

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.

Controversy

According to a 2013 published report, an audit by Uganda's auditor general 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 have been terminated and the investigation continued as of June 2014.

References

External links

Uganda Development Bank Website

As of 3 June 2020.

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Overview

History

Future plans

Services

Rating

Board of directors

Management

Controversy

See also

References

External links