In a major drive to professionalise the emerging digital ecosystem and accelerate economic empowerment, Stanbic Bank Uganda has positioned itself as a key partner for youth employment and wealth creation through its inaugural Stanbic Ongea Digital Creators Summit 2025.
Slated for December 11th, at the Speke Resort Munyonyo Conference Center, the summit is hailed as a pivotal moment for Uganda’s fragmented digital space, signalling a unified effort to transform the creator economy from a hobby into a bankable, professional sector.
This strategic move aligns perfectly with the bank’s core mandate, which is to drive Uganda’s growth, with a deliberate focus on its Women, Youth, and Farmers (WYF) Agenda, demonstrating how financial services and digital skilling are converging to uplift critical demographic groups.
The summit, launched a few days ago in collaboration with the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), Ongea Africa, and the Uganda Digital Society (UDS), is designed to bridge the gap between creative talent and commercial viability.
Beyond the Hobby
According to Mr. Joseph Kanyamunyu, from Ongea Africa, the initiative’s main goal is to shift creators from being hobbyists to professional entrepreneurs capable of monetising their content and building sustainable digital enterprises.
World-Class Skilling
Ms. Lois Aber Kwikiriza, Marketing and Brand Manager at Stanbic Bank, who represented the Bank at the launch, announced a crucial partnership with Red & Yellow Creative School of Business, which she said will provide participants with world-class training in areas like branding, business management, and monetisation strategies.
She revealed that Stanbic is backing this with five high-impact, scholarship-based awards under the Stanbic Digital Content Creator Annual Prize, emphasising that “Skills outlive trophies” and provide world-class capabilities.
This multi-stakeholder approach brings together finance, regulation, and technical expertise to ensure the conversation is practical and leads to real income for young Ugandans, who constitute approximately 75% of the country’s population.
WYF Agenda and Digital Inclusion as the Catalyst
The Digital Creators Summit is the newest and most visible component of Stanbic Bank’s expansive (WYF) Agenda, which is backed by a massive financial pledge.
Aber stressed that the bank has committed up to Shs1 trillion over the next four years through collaborative programs aimed at empowering Women, Youth, and Farmers to participate meaningfully in the formal economy and build generational wealth.
Youth Empowerment
The focus on digital creators directly addresses the Youth component of the WYF agenda. Content creation is viewed as a high-potential alternative career path that can solve unemployment and skills gaps, particularly among the youth who face limited formal job opportunities.
Ms. Aber noted that Stanbic supports creators, who often operate as small businesses, with Youth Customer Value Proposition (CVP) benefits such as digital account opening, no monthly fees, and tailored financial literacy programs, which are vital for moving informal money into safe, accessible bank accounts.
Fraud Awareness
In a parallel effort to drive digital safety and responsible communication, Stanbic has engaged digital creators to amplify national financial fraud-awareness efforts, recognising that for the WYF groups, customer awareness remains the first line of defense in the digital space.
Ms. Aber reaffirmed this commitment, stating that content creation is a “critical pathway to income and opportunity, placing women, youth and farmers at the heart of the country’s social and economic transformation.”
The UCC, which is supporting the summit and was represented at the launch by Mr. Kenneth Tweheyo, the Head of Competition and Consumer Affairs, reiterated its commitment to enhancing digital safety, affordability, and network coverage, aligning their regulatory mandate with the national goal of empowering a safe, inclusive, and empowered digital ecosystem.