Uganda Development Bank (UDB) is 100 per cent owned by the government. It was incorporated in 1972 and became a limited liability company in 2000. UDB is majorly focused on aligning itself with the National Development Plan because it is a national bank. Its emphasis is to throw a lot of weight on the sectors that spur development in the country so it is only imperative that it aligns itself with the National Development Plan. There are key sectors that have been identified by the National Development Plan 2040 that will be in position to spur development. This is all driven by the National Planning Authority (NPA), so we work closely with it.The bank has been in discussions with the shareholder, represented by the minister of Finance. The clear fact right now is that the shareholder has agreed to increase the share capital/capital contribution from the approved Shs100b to Shs500b. That means that the Shs400b is to be raised by the shareholder through various ways. Read more

The Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL) has concluded negotiations with The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) to secure Shs54.08b ($16m) for financing several projects. The BADEA team concluded the agreement with UDBL with the facility focusing on projects in the agribusiness, manufacturing, education and health sectors. “We are happy with the tremendous job UDBL is doing for Uganda. We believe we have the right partner with them and this facility will go a long way in concretising our long working relationship while helping businesses to prosper,” Dr H A Elbashir, the BADEA team leader, told the management of UDBL. UDBL, the only wholly owned government development bank, is now at the forefront of the ambitions of the government to provide lower interest financing to several strategic sectors in the economy. Read more

Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL) has reported a fall in net profit after a rise in provisions for bad debt and writing off of some loans.In a financial statement released last week, the loan write-offs for the bank rose to Shs6.87b as a result of bad debts. The bank did not write-off any loan. However, authorities at the bank were unwilling to name their debtors before the bank’s annual financials are released.Banks often write-off bad debts because they have become difficult and expensive to collect and leaving them on the balance sheet comes with extra costs.“This was a decision the bank took after recovery efforts to resuscitate these loans failed over a long period of time. The bank needed to clean up its portfolio and maintain a healthy book while recovery efforts for these loans continue,” said Ms Patricia Ojangole, the chief executive officer UDBL, in an email response to Daily Monitor. Read more

Government is yet to deliver on a promise to recapitalise Uganda Development Bank (UDB). UDB will be recapitalised by Shs5b much lower than the mentioned Shs500b. UDB got several mentions from the State-of-the-Nation Address and Budget Speech, with both indicating that the bank would be capitalised by Shs500b in the medium term.Dr Samuel Sejjaaka, the chairman UDB, while speaking at The Association of African Development Finance Institutions in Kampala, said government was paying lip-service to the bank.“Government has really been ambivalent in terms of refinancing the bank. We have a very distrustful relationship because the government said they would give us Shs500b towards recapitalisation of the bank, which was mentioned in the State-of-the-Nation Address by the President and in the Budget Speech. When the Budget came out, there was only Shs5b, which has not yet been delivered,” said Dr Sejjaaka.Read more

Continuous domestic borrowing by government from commercial banks is making it hard for individuals to access cheap loans, Uganda Development Bank (UDB) chairperson has said.Speaking at the Rural Finance and Gender Equality Conference in Kampala, Dr Samuel Sejjaaka said commercial banks prefer to lend to government that borrows much money and repayment is guaranteed compared to individuals particularly those in agriculture despite the sector employing majority Ugandans.As a result, he said the banks are reluctant to come up with products to cater for those in agriculture yet the sector urgently needs financing.Mr Sejjaaka added that the bank rates do not favour the sector characterised by many uncertainties. “I have been asking myself, how can someone borrow at 30 per cent (interest rate) and be able to pay back? If you borrow Shs100, it means you must generate Shs100, which economy works like that?” Dr Sejjaaka wondered. Read more

Uganda's banking industry is slowly returning to profitability after years of weak performance which resulted from the after-effects of the turbulent economic challenges. So far all the banks which have released their audited financial statements, including Uganda Development Bank (UDB) which has been making losses, Stanbic which posted a 22.1% decline in net profit and Dfcu Bank have posted profit growths. UDB’s audited financial statements released indicate that the institution’s net profited jumped to sh4.8b compared to sh515m posted. The bank’s chief executive officer, Patricia Ojangole attributed the performance to rigorous loan monitoring, collections and recovery efforts undertaken by the bank that resulted in a drop in non-performing loans.Read more

 Recapitalising Uganda Development Bank can reduce government’s expenditure on foreign debt of about Shs1.7 trillion, former Agriculture minister Victoria Ssekitoleko has said.Ms Ssekitoleko challenged government to revive UDB rather than begging commercial banks to reduce on interest rates.“Why not revive Uganda Development Bank (UDB) to ensure that even farmers can access credit at lower interest rates? ” she said.European Union officer Henry Nyerekwa, blamed government for playing ‘a pause game’ on servicing its debts, “Government has budgeted to spend Shs1.7 trillion on servicing foreign debt but at the same time, it plans to get Shs1.7 trillion from domestic borrowing. It is like borrowing from one source to fund the other one,” he said.Read more

Charles Byaruhanga (R), a bank board member, flanked by CEO Patricia Ojangole (2nd R) and boad chairman Samuel Ssejjaaka (2nd L) explains the bank's rebranding. The Uganda Development Bank (UDB) has rebranded with the aim of focusing on financing agriculture, where three out of four Ugandans earn a living.Speaking at the unveiling of the bank's new corporate image at Sheraton hotel, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said that as the sole shareholder in UDB, government would, through a phased process, recapitalise the bank to enable it fund development projects in the country.Rugunda said his office was following up on the recommendations of a recent proposal presented to the Presidential Economic Council on how best the bank could be strengthened, adding that as government they recognize the importance of injecting more money into the bank for it to execute its development mandate. Read more