Pride Bank profits up 41% a year after banking licence

Pride Bank Limited, one of Uganda’s largest tier II lenders, says its profits rose 41% in the year since it was licensed as a full credit institution.

The bank made 11.6bn Ugandan shillings (about $3.2m) in after-tax profit in 2025, up from 8.2bn shillings the year before, according to results presented this week to Uganda’s finance minister, Henry Musasizi.

Pride Bank was granted its tier II licence by the Bank of Uganda in November 2024, allowing it to offer services such as current accounts that had previously been off-limits. It completed its rebrand from Pride Microfinance to Pride Bank in April 2025.

The institution began in 1995 in the western town of Mbarara, offering small, collateral-free loans to low-income Ugandans. It spent almost three decades as a microfinance lender before qualifying for the upgrade.

Customer deposits rose 58% to 282bn shillings during the year, which the bank said was the main driver of its growth. Its loan book grew 15% to 264.7bn shillings, and total assets rose 28% to 574bn shillings.

The bank also said it had improved its loan recoveries, moving from a 7.5bn-shilling impairment charge in 2024 to a net credit position in 2025.

Its capital ratios eased slightly as the balance sheet expanded, but remained well above regulatory minimums, with core capital adequacy at 49.7% and total capital adequacy at 50.4%.

Pride Bank said it served more than 83,000 borrowers in 2025, including over 15,000 farmers and more than 37,000 women, through a network of over 45 branches. Its customer deposit base grew to more than 327,000 people.

Mr Musasizi said Pride Bank’s continued growth and its focus on financing agriculture, small businesses and other productive sectors “aligns with government’s commitment to expanding financial inclusion and supporting Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.”

Pride Bank’s managing director, Veronicah Namagembe, said: “Our 2025 performance reflects the confidence our customers continue to place in us and the dedication of our staff. As Pride Bank, we remain committed to responsible growth, innovation and delivering financial solutions that create lasting value for our customers and contribute meaningfully to Uganda’s economic development.”

The bank says it plans to keep expanding lending to farmers, traders and small businesses while investing further in digital banking, as competition among Uganda’s tier II lenders increases.