Commercial banks in Uganda have been urged to provide affordable credit to help the private sector recover from the effects of Covid-19 induced lockdowns.
Speaking at the Uganda Economic Restart Breakfast hosted by Stanbic Bank Uganda in Kampala on Thursday, the CEO, Ms Anne Juuko, said financial institutions should not wait for government and development partners to help Uganda’s private sector recover.
She also key among the investment areas should be the health and education sectors, which she said have been greatly battered by Covid-19 lockdowns.
“We are hosting the Uganda Economic Restart Breakfast to find means of working together to drive Uganda’s Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery,” Ms Juuko said.
“It doesn’t help having a balance sheet of trillions if it doesn’t help the Ugandans. That’s why we now have subsidiaries that train and offer solutions at a fraction of the cost,” she added.
As Stanbic, Ms Juuko said they have partnered with key sectors like education by offering interest-free moratoriums to schools to enable them re-open and run for the year 2022.
“We all have a role to play as schools re-open next year,” she said.
“When the boarders close, it doesn’t matter how many visas you have in your passport. We need to develop our own health sector,” she added.
She said in this line, Stanbic has also partnered with the Ministry of Health to acquire medical equipment and also offered doctors and medical practitioners access to free banking services, lower interest rates on loans, free medical and funeral insurance to facilitate their work.
“Sustainability is Key! We have to invest in Uganda because if Uganda’s economy grows, then Stanbic Bank Uganda will grow. This is why we do what we do, it is why we have various intiatives that transform the lives of Ugandans,” Ms Juuko said.
So far, she said the bank has given 16.3bn to 122 SACCOS impacting 960,700 members. Over 3.6bn has been disbursed under the Profira/MOF Project to 420 VSLAs in Kitgum, Lira, Adjumani, Apac and intends to increase reach with strategic partnerships with the SACCOs across the country, she said.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, in a speech read by Government Chief Whip Thomas Tayebwa, commended Stanbic Bank for leading the way on reduction of interest rates & support to SACCOs
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