Centenary Bank pledges support for women-led businesses

Kampala, Uganda — Centenary Bank has committed to supporting female entrepreneurs this week at the annual Women’s Enterprise Conference. Uganda’s largest commercial microfinance bank joined businesswomen and policymakers with the shared goal of bridging financial and economic disparities faced by women.

The conference, held under the theme, “Empowering Women Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Business Growth,” underscored the vital role women play in Uganda’s economy and the systemic challenges they must overcome to succeed.

A recent 2024 study on entrepreneurship by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives highlighted persistent issues for women-led businesses, noting they score slightly below the national average on the Entrepreneurship Index. The report detailed measurable deficiencies in areas such as business registration, technology adoption and market linkages, while also pointing to barriers like limited access to credit and land.

Fabian Kasi, the managing director of Centenary Bank, emphasized the importance of forums like this conference in directly addressing these gaps.

“For over four decades, Centenary Bank has been at the forefront of advancing financial inclusion,” Kasi said. “Our mission is to transform lives, and a major part of that is ensuring women have the resources to build their legacies. Today, we serve 3 million customers, many of whom are women, thus this conference speaks to our efforts as a bank to always listen, understand, and respond to our customers’ needs.”

Kasi urged attendees to leverage the financial tools, training and networks available through the bank.

Centenary Bank has made significant investments in products specifically designed to enhance access to finance and strengthen business resilience for women. These offerings include the Cente SupaWoman Account, which helps women manage and grow their finances with benefits like a 2 percent monthly interest rate and financial literacy training. The bank also provides the SupaWoman GROW Loans, offering flexible, affordable financing at subsidized rates, and specialized Agriculture Loans aimed at boosting productivity for women in agribusiness.

Through strategic partnerships, such as the Enterprise Finance Summit with the Africa Guarantee Fund, Centenary Bank is also working to expand funding access for small and medium enterprises, particularly those led by women.

Beyond financial products, the bank runs extensive training programs to strengthen women’s business and financial management skills, covering topics such as budgeting, digital finance and investment planning. The bank’s commitment to accessibility is reinforced by its network of more than 8,000 CenteAgents across the country.

“We believe that empowering women goes beyond finance. It’s about equipping them with knowledge, linking them to markets, and helping them build confidence to grow sustainably,” Kasi said, adding, “When women succeed, communities thrive. Centenary Bank is proud to be part of that transformation.”

Centenary Bank remains dedicated to building a financially inclusive Uganda where women are not just participants in the economy, but are leading it.