Stanbic Bank, Uganda’s largest commercial bank, this week launched a major 18-month-long brand campaign titled “Keep Growing.” This initiative represents a significant commitment to national development, aligning the bank’s operational strategy with its critical Women, Youth, and Farmers (WYF) Agenda. The WYF Agenda targets demographics essential for Uganda’s long-term economic prosperity and financial inclusion.
The ‘Keep Growing’ campaign honours Uganda’s resilience and renews Stanbic’s purpose to fuel economic opportunities for these key groups.
“Keep Growing” and the WYF Agenda
The “Keep Growing” campaign is not just a marketing exercise; it is an active mechanism to realise the strategic objectives of the bank’s WYF Agenda, focusing resources and innovation where they are needed most.
Flagging off the campaign, Mumba Kenneth Kalifungwa, Stanbic Bank Uganda Chief Executive, clearly articulated this commitment, saying:
“Keep Growing honours the spirit of a nation that never stops striving. Our role is to ensure that as Uganda grows, so must we, especially in expanding access to financial opportunities for women, youth, and smallholder farmers. We are here not just to finance progress, but to enable positive impact for generations.”
Specific Strategic Integrations (Women and Youth)
The Stanbic Business Incubator, led by Catherine A. Poran, is a key instrument in the WYF Agenda. By equipping entrepreneurs, many of whom are women and youth, with investment-ready skills, the incubator unlocks long-term value. As she noted, “When entrepreneurs grow, communities grow.”
Farmers (Agribusiness and Corporate Banking)
Paul Bitature Muganwa, the Executive Director and Head of Corporate and Investment Banking, confirmed that Stanbic’s role is to enable capital flows for infrastructure and agribusiness financing.
This focus, according to Muganwa, provides the large-scale financial backing necessary for smallholder farmers to integrate into more sophisticated, regional value chains.
Commercial Enterprise (Job Creation for Youth)
Tunde Thorpe, the Head of Business and Commercial Banking, committed the bank to providing capital, digital tools, and market access, enabling commercial enterprises to scale. He explained that this scaling directly addresses the youth employment challenge by increasing the rate of job creation.
Financial Inclusion (Women and Rural Areas)
The overall emphasis on expanding access to financial opportunities directly addresses the historical exclusion of women and rural populations (farmers) from mainstream banking services.
Samuel Fredrick Mwogeza, the Executive Director and Head of Personal and Private Banking, stressed innovative solutions that “move households closer to their goals.”
Legacy Rooted in Financial Inclusion
Stanbic’s current mission to champion the WYF Agenda traces back to the 2002 privatisation of the Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB).
By securing a majority stake, Stanbic was entrusted with a mandate to drive nationwide financial inclusion and broad economic growth, a mandate that the WYF Agenda now seeks to fulfil by prioritising the segments most crucial for inclusive national development.
The campaign ensures that the financial success achieved by women, youth, and farmers is protected and sustained through:
Wealth Creation
Grace Semakula, CEO of SBG Securities Uganda, emphasised guiding investors toward diversified portfolios to help Ugandans build intergenerational wealth, an essential element for families exiting subsistence living.
Risk Protection
Tichaona Makonese, Head of Insurance and Asset Management, affirmed that “Growth must be protected,” with solutions designed to safeguard the livelihoods, businesses, health, and property of these key demographics.
The “Keep Growing” campaign is thus an open invitation to these specific groups: women, youth, and smallholder farmers, to share their journeys of resilience, confirming that Stanbic Bank is committed to walking with them as they drive the national economy forward.