For decades, getting a formal loan in East Africa depended on a familiar set of questions: Does the borrower have a salary? A bank account? A credit history? Collateral? For millions of people working outside formal employment or running small…
Pearl Bank says “When You Grow, Uganda Prospers.” The more interesting question is whether the economics behind that promise can be seen and measured. Consider a maize farmer in Rakai. He has land, a crop to grow and potentially a…
Finance Trust is preparing for life after Annet Nakawunde Mulindwa. The bank announced on September 1 that its long-serving Managing Director will leave in November 2026 to take up a new international leadership opportunity, ending nearly 15 years at the…
Nearly UGX 200 billion mobilised from more than 130,000 savers is an impressive start for NSSF’s Smartlife Flexi. But another number may matter even more: 97% of those savers are using mobile money. As NSSF renews its partnership with Airtel…
Pearl Bank Uganda has a good problem on its hands. Wendi, the digital wallet launched by the then PostBank Uganda, is growing at a pace that makes it increasingly difficult to regard it as simply another payments product. Balances held…
Uganda’s US$500 billion economic ambition comes with a financial requirement that is almost as striking as the target itself, private-sector credit will have to rise from roughly Shs30 trillion today to more than Shs490 trillion by 2040. That means the…
For years, Uganda’s informal economy has operated largely outside the traditional banking system. Small traders, farmers, transport operators, artisans and entrepreneurs generate income every day, but many remain outside the kind of formal financial systems that banks have traditionally designed…
For years, mobile money in Africa was understood as a convenient alternative to cash: a way to send money home, pay a bill, receive money or withdraw funds without visiting a bank. That description is becoming too narrow. Airtel Money…
The evolution of banking from what it was, brick-and-mortar, to what we are witnessing today is all thanks to the growth in technology and innovations that have enabled digitisation in banking, so that more people are ushered into formal financial…
Uganda’s ambition to build a US$500 billion economy by 2040 will not be determined solely by oil production, industrial parks or major infrastructure projects. It will also depend on whether millions of women running small businesses can access the capital,…
One year ago, one of Uganda’s leading homegrown commercial banks embarked on one of the most significant transformations in its history. The institution formerly known as Post Bank Uganda unveiled a new identity as Pearl Bank, signalling far more than…
“SMEs account for over 70% of Uganda’s private sector activity, yet many continue to face challenges including limited access to finance, cash flow constraints, and the need for digital transformation. Through our new Business Banking proposition, we are providing businesses…
In Owino Market in Kampala, a trader named Tendo does not visit a bank. He has never filled in a loan application form. He does not own land to offer as collateral. But last Tuesday, his phone buzzed with an…
Leadership transitions often reveal more about a company’s future than its annual reports. That is why the appointment of Phrase Lubega as Managing Director of MTN Mobile Money Uganda, subject to regulatory approval, deserves closer attention than a routine executive…
For years, Uganda’s insurance sector was defined by one word: fragmentation. Dozens of insurers competed for relatively small market share in an industry where penetration remained among the lowest in Africa. Competition was abundant; scale was not. Many firms struggled…