
KAMPALA —Effective bookkeeping is crucial for business growth especially through monitoring, cash flow, taxes loan application and profitability, Stanbic Uganda Chief Executive, Anne Jjuuko has tipped entrepreneurs.
Ms. Juuko was speaking during the launch of customer service week, a platform by Stanbic Bank that helps SMEs to showcase what they’re doing, but also creating a market for their goods and services.
“The single biggest problem we find while doing business with a typical Ugandan SMEs is a lack of record keeping. The business is doing well but the owner of the business cannot tell you their monthly sales. They can’t tell you their monthly expenses,” Ms. Juuko said.
She added: “They don’t have a record where they’re keeping this. So when they come to the bank, it’s very difficult to do an assessment because you’re starting from scratch. You don’t have anything to start from.”
She told entrepreneurs that record keeping is good “for you as a business. It’s good for you as a customer of the bank. It’s also very, very good for you to know how you’re doing. It’s good practice. It’s good for you from a tax point of view”.
She said Stanbic Bank would use this customer celebration window to educate its customers on sound business practices to help them grow and thrive.
“We know very well that no country has ever developed and gotten into middle income and beyond without the engine of growth. The engine of growth is the SME sector. It has the potential to employ many more people than any other sector. It has the potential to increase tax collections, but also it has the potential to add value and GDP to our country.”
She said the monthlong outreaches dubbed L.O.V. E would be extended to other parts of the country including Mbale, Mbarara and other areas to celebrate service in every aspect of bank’s operations and the communities it serves.
LOVE is Let us team up, (to work towards our better future); Open our minds, (to greater possibilities); Value and share knowledge, (on opportunities) and Empathize (with our customers).
“The L.O.V.E campaign brings life to our purpose, Uganda is our home, We drive her growth’. We want to show that we are a supportive partner that understands and serves the needs of our customers. Throughout October and in a special way, we are celebrating our customers, the community, businesses, our teams and Uganda as a whole, as the country marks its 60th independence anniversary. The Standard Bank/ Stanbic brand is also celebrating 160 years since its founding and we would like to ensure the visibility of our existence and services we offer to our clients and customers is heightened during the LOVE month,” Juuko said.
Earlier this year, Standard Bank Group emerged as the most valuable banking brand on the African continent for 2022 in Brand Finance’s annual ranking of the world’s Top 500 Banking Brands. Standard Bank increased its brand value by 26% to $1.583 billion.
Juuko said, “Several health centres that serve high numbers of expectant mothers will receive a range of essential items such as Mama Kits, beds and neonatal machines and other supplies, depending on specific needs. We intend to reach the furthest part of the country to ensure that we save lives of mothers and enable medical personnel execute their duties seamlessly.”
The other major activity will involve the planting of trees across the country to help reverse Uganda’s receding forest cover.
Juuko said, “Our employees are already participating in the drive to plant 40 million trees across Uganda over the next five years. We shall identify spots across the country where our staff will plant trees and also give them seedlings to plant in their various communities.”
The Bank will also hold market days in different regions of Uganda to support about 100 businesses (in each of the regions) showcase their products, services and interact with their customers.