Absa enters wealth market as Uganda’s collective investment schemes grow tenfold since 2021

KAMPALA – Absa Bank Uganda has launched a wealth management and investment advisory service, as assets held in Uganda’s collective investment schemes have grown nearly tenfold since 2021.

According to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), assets under management in collective investment schemes have risen to Shs7.06 trillion across more than 220,000 funded investor accounts, up from Shs731 billion in June 2021. The authority says more than Shs23.4 trillion has been mobilised through Uganda’s capital markets in total.

The bank’s new service, Absa Wealth, was launched in Kampala on Wednesday. It offers customers wealth advisory, investment products, specialised lending, multi-currency banking, and access to local and international investment opportunities through a single banking relationship.

The bank also cited growth in long-term savings, saying the retirement benefits sector managed assets of more than Shs30 trillion in the 2024/25 financial year, and that the economy grew by 6.4 per cent in 2025/26 to about Shs250.4 trillion.

David Wandera, managing director of Absa Bank Uganda, said the service responds to the growth of the country’s investment market and changes in what customers want from their bank.

“As Uganda’s economy grows and more wealth is created, the conversation must increasingly move beyond how we save to how we invest, diversify and preserve that wealth,” he said.

“We already support our customers to transact, save, borrow and grow their businesses. Absa Wealth allows us to extend that relationship further by helping them put their money to work and make more deliberate investment decisions for the future.”

Under the service, customers can start investing from Shs10,000, or the US dollar equivalent, through Absa Invest Plus, a fund product offered by Absa and managed by Sanlam. The bank says the funds, available in Uganda shillings and US dollars, invest mainly in government securities and other interest-bearing instruments, and it describes them as low-risk.

Customers can also buy government Treasury bills and bonds through the bank. Those with larger portfolios can use its wealth advisory, multi-currency banking, specialised lending and international investment services.

The bank said eligible Absa Wealth customers will be able to invest beyond Uganda, including in markets such as Mauritius, through the wider Absa Group network. Investments will be available in US dollars, euros and British pounds, covering foreign currency bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and structured deposits.

“Wealth management is not about a single product or investment. It starts with understanding a customer’s goals and developing a tailored strategy to help them achieve them,” Wandera said.

“Our proposition allows us to look at a customer’s banking, liquidity, financing and investment needs more holistically and, through Absa’s broader African and international capabilities, support them as those needs become more sophisticated.”

The launch was attended by officials from the CMA and the Bank of Uganda, along with fund managers including Cornerstone, Sanlam Allianz, Prudential and Old Mutual.

Josephine Okui Ossiya, chief executive officer of the CMA, said rising investor participation reflected growing confidence in Uganda’s regulated capital markets, and that the regulator’s priority was to sustain that growth and extend it to more of the population while protecting investors.

“This requires investment products that are appropriately structured, transparently disclosed and suited to the needs and risk profiles of different investors, supported by continuous investor education and effective investor protection measures,” she said.

“Licensed financial institutions have a responsibility to uphold these standards as they connect more Ugandans to regulated investment opportunities and contribute to a stronger culture of long-term investing.”

Absa Bank Uganda is a subsidiary of Absa Group, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The Ugandan bank has 39 branches, 91 ATMs and 26 cash deposit machines, and is regulated by the Bank of Uganda.