KCB bank CEO Joshua Oigara speaking during the event at Serena Hotel in Kampala. Photo by Badru Afunadula.
After covering the entire Great Lakes Region, KCB bank is planning to enter the Chinese market.
This was revealed Friday by KCB Group’s CEO, Joshua Oigara as the bank celebrated 10 years in Uganda at Serena Hotel, Kampala.
“There are only a handful of Banks that have existed for over 100 years and KCB bank is among them. KCB bank is the only bank in from the region (great lakes) that makes it to the list of top 20 Banks in Africa. We are borderless in the region and after covering the whole of East Africa, plans are underway to enter the Chinese market. We will be the first bank from the region to do this,” he revealed.
Oigara further spoke about the vibrancy of the Uganda market and the bank’s commitment to changing lives for a long time to come.
“The financial sector is at the nexus of enabling real transformation of most of our people and generations to come. As a bank, we want to create opportunities, resources and jobs for the next generation,” he noted.
KCB Bank Uganda has invested over Shs2.5 billion in communities through its Corporate Social Responsibility arm, the KCB Foundation, in areas of enterprise development Education, Health, Environment and Humanitarian Aid.
In his speech at the event, Joram Kiarie, the KCB Bank Uganda MD, said; “Today marks a major milestone for us as KCB Bank Uganda as we mark ten years in this market and 120 years since we started out in East Africa. It is a journey that has provided wonderful memories and witnessed the building of useful and lifelong business relationships with our customers.”
KCB Bank Uganda opened its first branch on Commercial Plaza, Kampala Road in November 2007 and has since opened a total of 16 branches, eight of them in Kampala and eight others in major towns around Uganda in Jinja, Mbale, Lira, Gulu, Arua, Hoima, Fort Portal and Mbarara.
Bank of Uganda deputy governor Dr. Louis Kasekende reiterated the impact of technology in the financial sector services.
“Financial services providers need to innovate continuously for them to remain competitive in the face of technological advancement,” Kasekende noted.
He commended KCB for supporting community development in the country.
“We at the central bank are conscious of the role of banks like KCB in this market and we don’t take it for granted,” he said.
He noted that KCB has grown its asset base to Shs717 billion from Shs59 billion ten years ago with gross loans of up to Shs231 billion issued to date.
The KCB board chairman, Aga Sekalala Jr, said the next ten years will see heavy investment in agency banking as a way of deepening the bank’s presence and relevance in Uganda.
“The next years will see heavy investment in digital platforms as we increasingly create more convenience for our customers but also equally purposeful growth in our retail space through agent banking which we will be launching any time now,” Sekalala said.
KCB Bank is one of the lenders that have already secured the regulator’s license to carry out Agent banking in Uganda. The bank has carried out successful agent banking in Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Kenya.
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