Housing Finance Bank (HFB) is a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country 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 south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by

Bank of Uganda The Bank of Uganda ( sw, Benki Kuu ya Uganda) is the central bank of Uganda. Established in 1966, by Act of Parliament, the bank is wholly owned by the government but is not a government department. History In 1979 and again in 1987, the Ba ...

, the national banking regulator.

Overview

HFB is a full service retail bank that is primarily involved in

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...

banking. Founded in 1967 as a housing finance company, HFB became a fully licensed commercial bank in January 2008, having acquired a commercial banking license from the Bank of Uganda. The bank is the leading mortgage lender in the country, with approximately 60 percent of all Ugandan mortgage accounts. As of December 2019, HFB had an asset base valued at USh912.48 billion (US$247 million), with shareholders' equity of USh211.92 billion (US$57.3 million). On 31 December 2020, the bank's assets were USh1.11 trillion (US$315 million). The bank made an after-tax profit of USh20.6 billion (US$5.84 million) in 2020. At that time, shareholders' equity was USh250.1 billion (approx. US$70 million). In August 2017, the two largest shareholders in the bank, the Uganda government and NSSF Uganda, each contributed $8.2 million (for a total of $16.4 million) in fresh capital, to boost the bank's ability to lend to more mortgage borrowers and improve the lender's liquidity.

Ownership

HFB is owned by the Uganda National Social Security Fund (50.0 percent). The government of Uganda, through the Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, owns 49.18 percent. The remaining 0.82 percent is owned by the

National Housing and Construction Company National Housing and Construction Company Limited (NHCC), is a Ugandan construction and real estate management company, partly owned by the Uganda Government. The Company’s mandate is to increase the housing stock in the country, rehabilitate t ...

, a

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

company jointly owned by the government of Uganda (51 percent) and the government of Libya (49 percent). HFB had planned to list its shares on the

Uganda Securities Exchange The Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) is the principal stock exchange of Uganda. It was founded in June 1997. The USE is operated under the jurisdiction of Uganda's Capital Markets Authority, which in turn reports to the Bank of Uganda, Uganda's ...

in 2012, however, those plans were postponed.

Branch network

HFB maintains its corporate headquarters and main branch at its newly constructed headquarters building on Wampewo Avenue, on Kololo Hill. HFB's former main branch is located on Kampala Road. Another branch within the

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

central business district is located in

Nakasero Nakasero is a hill and neighborhood in the centre of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. Nakasero is important to Uganda's economy and politics, as it is home to Kampala's central business district and several government offices, ...

, across Nakasero Road from the Nigerian High Commission. There are two other branches in Kampala, one each in the suburbs of

Namuwongo Namuwongo is a location in Kampala, the capital of Uganda and the largest city in that country. Location Namuwongo is located in Makindye Division, one of the five administrative divisions of Kampala. It is bordered by Lugogo to the north, Na ...

and

Ntinda Ntinda is a location in northeastern Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Location Ntinda lies in Nakawa Division, one of the five administrative divisions of Kampala. It is bordered by Kyambogo to the east, Nakawa to the south, Naguru to the w ...

. In February 2009, HFB opened a branch in

Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, Kakiika Division, ...

in western Uganda. In March 2009, HFB opened a branch in an area of Kampala known as Kikuubo. In June 2009, HFB opened a branch in

Mbale Mbale is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. Location Mbale is approximately , by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capita ...

, promising at the opening ceremony to launch Internet banking and rural mobile banking later in 2009. In July 2009, HFB opened a branch in Arua, its eighth in the country. , HFB maintained branches at the following locations: # Pearl Lounge Executive Banking Branch - 4 Wampewo Avenue,

Kololo Kololo is a hill in Kampala, the largest city and capital of Uganda. The name also applies to the upscale residential and commercial neighbourhood that sits on that hill. Location Kololo is close to the centre of Kampala, bordered by Naguru to ...

, Kampala # Arua Branch - OB Plaza, 9-11 Adumi Road, Arua # Fort Portal Branch - 4 Kyebambe Road,

Fort Portal Fort Portal or Kabarole is a city located in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the seat of both Kabarole District and historically of the Toro Kingdom. Location Fort Portal in Kabarole District is located approximately by road, west of Kampa ...

# Garden City Branch - Garden City Mall, 64-68, Yusuf Lule Road, Kampala # Gulu Branch - 26 Labwor Road,

Gulu Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to Kampala, Uganda's capital and larg ...

# Jinja Branch - Beamteks Plaza, 68 Main Street, Jinja # Kampala Road Branch - 25 Kampala Road, Kampala # Kikuubo Branch - 15 Nakivubo Road, Kampala # Kololo Branch - Investment House, 4 Wampewo Avenue, Kololo Main Branch # Lira Branch - 4 Bazaar Road, Lira # Mbale Branch - Bugisu Cooperative Union House, 2 Court Road,

# Mbarara Branch - Classic Hotel Building, 57 High Street,

# Mukono Branch -

Mukono Mukono Town is a municipality in Mukono District in the Central Region of Uganda. The town is administered by the Mukono Town Council. The district headquarters are located in this town. Location Mukono Municipality is 21 km east of ...

# Najjanankumbi Branch - Pelican House, 1032 Entebbe Road,

Najjanankumbi Najjanankumbi is located in Lubaga Division, on the southern edge of the city of Kampala. Location Najjanankumbi is located on the southern edge of the city of Kampal It is bordered by Kibuye, Uganda, Kibuye to the north, Lukuli to the east, ...

# Nakasero Branch - 34A Nakasero Road,

, Kampala # Namuwongo Branch -38 Kisugu Road,

, Kampala # Ndeeba Branch - 94-96 Masaka Road,

Ndeeba Ndeeba is a neighborhood in the city of Kampala, Uganda's capital. Location Ndeeba is located in Lubaga Division, one of the five administrative divisions of Kampala. It lies on the southern edge of the city. It is bordered by Mengo to the nor ...

, Kampala # Ntinda Branch - 1 Kimera Road,

# Ovino Branch - Ovino Market Mall, 22, Kibuga Road, Kisenyi, Kampala # Tororo Branch - 11 Mbale Road, Tororo

Directors

Housing Finance Bank is governed by a twelve-person board of directors of whom two are

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

s and ten are non-executive. The chairman of the board is David Opiokello, one of the non-executive directors.

Executive management

Nicholas Okwir was the founding

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of HFB. In April 2013, Mathias Katamba became managing director, succeeding the retiring Okwir. In October 2018, Katamba left and Michael Mugabi was named CEO in an acting capacity. There are eleven other senior managers with whom the managing director supervises the daily activities of the bank.

References

External links

Housing Finance Bank Homepage
{{Kampala District Banks of Uganda Banks established in 1967 1967 establishments in Uganda Companies based in Kampala Kampala Central Division Housing finance companies Government-owned companies of Uganda