Few institutions in Uganda’s financial sector have undergone as significant a transformation in recent years as Pride Bank Limited. Long known for its commitment to financial inclusion and serving underserved communities, the institution entered a new era when it successfully transitioned from a microfinance deposit-taking institution to a Tier II Credit Institution, expanding its ability to serve individuals, businesses, and communities across the country.

At the helm of this transformation is Veronicah Gladys Namagembe, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, whose leadership has overseen a period of remarkable growth, stronger profitability, improved risk management, and a renewed focus on digital innovation. Under her stewardship, Pride Bank reported a 28.1 percent growth in total assets, a 58.2 percent increase in customer deposits, and a 40.9 percent rise in profit after tax in 2025, while deepening its commitment to sustainable and inclusive banking.

In this exclusive interview with CEO East Africa Magazine, Namagembe reflects on the institution’s transition journey, the opportunities and challenges shaping Uganda’s banking industry, the role of technology in driving financial inclusion, and her vision for building a digitally driven, commercially strong, and socially responsible bank that transforms lives responsibly.

She also shares insights on leadership, growth, sustainability, and what lies ahead for Pride Bank as it seeks to consolidate its position as one of Uganda’s leading financial institutions.

It has been more than a year since you transitioned into a Tier II financial institution. How has it been?

The transition has been humbling, energising, and deeply affirming. Becoming a Tier II Credit Institution was never merely a regulatory upgrade; it was a fundamental institutional transformation. It required us to mature across governance, risk management, regulatory compliance, systems capability, people capacity, and customer value delivery. Most importantly, it reminded us why Pride Bank exists: to Transform Lives Responsibly.

Our customers are micro, small and medium enterprises, farmers, women, youth, salaried workers, and communities at the base of the economic pyramid that look to us not only for financial services, but also for trust, dignity, guidance, and hope. That responsibility has shaped how we have approached every aspect of this journey. Practically, the Tier II licence has broadened our solution space. We are now better positioned to offer a wider range of responsible financial solutions, including business banking, trade-related services, foreign currency savings and deposit accounts, broader transactional services, and more tailored propositions for salaried customers, SMEs, agriculture value chains, and other priority segments. It has also created room for deeper partnerships, more affordable funding instruments, and a stronger platform for inclusive banking.

The transition has also stretched us internally in a positive way. It has demanded greater discipline, sharper execution, stronger teamwork, and continuous learning across the institution. We have invested in upskilling our people because the quality of any bank ultimately depends on the quality, commitment, and mindset of its staff. None of this happened by accident. It is the result of disciplined preparation by a team I am profoundly proud to serve alongside. We are a stronger institution today, but we are still guided by the same heart: to serve ordinary Ugandans with dignity and to help them build better lives.

How different are you from the financial institution we knew a few years ago?

Pride Bank today is recognisably the same in soul, but transformed in scale, ambition, and capability.We remain firmly committed to the underserved; the smallholder farmer, the market vendor, the women entrepreneur, the youth, the boda-boda rider, the refugee household, the salaried worker, and the small business owner. That foundation is part of our identity, and it is non-negotiable. What has changed is the breadth of what we can now offer, the sophistication with which we deliver it, and the mindset with which we are preparing for the future.

Three differences stand out. First, scale: total assets grew by 28.1 per cent in 2025, customer deposits grew by 58.2 per cent, and our loan portfolio expanded prudently. This reflects a stronger and more resilient balance sheet. Second, product and segment diversity: from a predominantly microfinance institution, we now serve micro, small, medium & large enterprises alongside salaried individuals, institutions, and emerging customer segments, with broader solutions in business banking, trade finance, foreign currency savings accounts, transactional services, and tailored credit propositions. Third, strategic posture: under our Digital First Bank Strategy, we have moved from being product-led to being relationship-led, and from activity-driven to outcome-driven, anchored on three high-impact goals: Sustainable Agriculture Value Chains, Growing Sustainable SMEs, and Financial Inclusion for Economic Resilience.

Perhaps most importantly, we have embedded Sustainable Development Goals thinking into our lending and investment decisions and adopted a forward-looking, IFRS 9-aligned approach to credit risk. Our customer satisfaction and Net Promoter scores have improved meaningfully, and we are now a certified sustainable bank, having received Sustainability Certification from the European Organisation for Sustainable Development. These outcomes reflect a genuine cultural shift: we are listening more carefully, responding more quickly, and serving our customers with greater empathy and discipline

You registered tremendous growth across several parameters in 2025. Would I be correct to conclude that this suggests a successful transition to a Tier II financial institution?

Yes, the 2025 performance gives us confidence that the transition is taking root. However, I would describe it as a strong foundation rather than a completed journey. The audited financial statements show encouraging progress. A simple snapshot tells the story clearly:

For me, the transition is successful to the extent that it is creating a stronger, safer, more useful institution for customers. The numbers are encouraging, but the deeper test is whether governance, service reliability, risk discipline, staff readiness, and customer confidence continue to improve. On those fronts, we are progressing, but we remain focused on the work ahead.

You registered strong deposit growth but adopted a cautious approach to loan book expansion. Why?

In banking, deposit growth is a sign of confidence, but it also places a duty of care on the institution. Customer deposits grew by 58.2%, while net loans and advances grew by 14.6%. That difference was intentional.

There were four reasons.

• First, portfolio quality must precede portfolio quantity. We wanted to lend better before lending faster. The improvement in the impairment position confirms that this discipline was necessary.
• Second, the Tier II transition required refinement of our credit architecture. We strengthened customer assessment, collateral management, portfolio monitoring, collections follow-up, and early-warning processes.
• Third, a stronger deposit base gave us room to rebuild liquidity and balance sheet resilience. In a growing institution, liquidity is not idle money; it is protection for customers and capacity for future lending.
• Fourth, we believe responsible credit must support customers, not overburden them. We are focused on lending where we understand the customer, the cash flows, the sector, and the repayment capacity.

The cautious lending of 2025 is therefore not a sign of reluctance. It is the platform for more confident, well-structured, and sustainable credit growth going forward.

Q5. Details in your financials suggest that you have improved risk management. Is this why you were able to have a good return in profits?

Improved risk management was one of the key contributors to our stronger profitability, but it was not the only one. The most visible movement was the shift from a sizeable net impairment charge in 2024 to a small net impairment credit in 2025. In addition, the expected credit loss allowance on loans reduced by 35.7%, from UGX 4.4 billion to UGX 2.8 billion. This reflects a better impairment position, stronger recoveries, and improved credit discipline.

These results came from deliberate actions: tighter credit origination, closer portfolio monitoring, stronger collateral management, faster escalation of early warning signs, and a more structured approach to recoveries. We have treated recoveries not as an afterthought, but as a core part of responsible credit management. That said, the profit improvement was broader than risk management alone. Net interest income, fee income, customer confidence, funding discipline, and cost management also played important roles. Strong financial performance is never driven by one factor alone.

Our focus now is on the quality of earnings. We want profits that are repeatable, risk-adjusted, compliant, and anchored in real customer value. That is what builds a sustainable bank.

How do you plan to sustain the growth that you achieved in 2025?

We will sustain the growth through disciplined execution of our Digital First Bank Strategy 2026–2030, approved by the Board in December 2025. The strategy gives us a clear operating direction without losing sight of our financial inclusion mandate.

• The first priority is sustainable business growth. This means growing quality business in MSMEs, agriculture value chains, trade, salaried segments, and other productive areas, while maintaining sound asset quality and deepening stable deposits.
• The second is customer centricity. We are moving from transactional banking to relationship banking. Customers should experience simpler processes, clearer communication, faster turnaround times, and products that respond to their real needs.
• The third is digital and data-driven efficiency. We are modernising systems, automating processes, strengthening data analytics, expanding alternative channels, and improving reliability across customer touchpoints.
• The fourth is high-performance culture. Growth cannot be sustained without people who are skilled, motivated, ethical, and accountable. We are therefore investing in staff capability, leadership development, productivity, and culture.

The discipline now is execution. We must protect asset quality, improve efficiency, invest wisely, and continue to earn the trust of customers every day.

Now that you are experiencing growth on different fronts, do you have any immediate plans for expansion or, better still, becoming a Tier I bank?

Our immediate priority is to consolidate our Tier II position and make it deliver full value to customers. Tier I status is not a title we are chasing for prestige. Expansion for us is not only about physical branches. It is about access. We are looking at how to optimise our branch network, strengthen self-service channels, grow agency banking, improve relationship management, and deepen partnerships in sectors such as agriculture, trade, public sector, transport, real estate, education, and other priority areas.

Becoming a commercial bank requires more than ambition. It requires stronger capital, more sophisticated systems, deeper risk management, wider product capability, and readiness from both the institution and the shareholder. When the time is right, and when the fundamentals clearly justify it, we shall assess that path carefully. For now, our focus is disciplined consolidation, better customer outcomes, and excellent execution as a leading Tier II institution.

What opportunities and challenges could change the outlook for Pride Bank and the industry as a whole?

The opportunities are significant. Uganda has a young and growing population, a large MSME base, increasing digital adoption, and a national development agenda that is deliberately focused on economic transformation. The Government of Uganda’s 10-fold growth ambition, anchored on the ATMS pillars; Agro-industrialisation, Tourism, Mineral Development including oil and gas, and Science, Technology and Innovation creates a strong platform for banks to support productive sectors, enterprise growth, job creation, and broader financial inclusion.

For Pride Bank, this agenda aligns very closely with who we are and where we are going. Agro-industrialisation speaks directly to our focus on agriculture value chains, farmer groups, cooperatives, agro-SMEs, and rural enterprise. Science, Technology and Innovation reinforces our digital-first strategy, especially around digital payments, agency banking, data-led credit assessment, fintech partnerships, and technology-enabled customer access. Tourism, trade, infrastructure, and oil-and-gas-linked economic activity also create opportunities for SME banking, trade finance, foreign currency services, savings mobilisation, and transactional banking.

Sustainability is another major opportunity. Customers, regulators, funders, and communities increasingly expect banks to finance growth responsibly. For us, this means supporting green finance, responsible lending, women and youth enterprise, agriculture resilience, and business models that create both financial and social value. This fits naturally with Pride Bank’s purpose of transforming lives responsibly.

The challenges are equally real. Mobile money has changed customer behaviour, fintech entrants are increasing competition, and margins are under pressure. Cybersecurity threats are becoming more complex, regulatory expectations are rising, and macroeconomic risks; including inflation, exchange rate movements, climate shocks, and shifts in development funding, require constant vigilance. The very sectors that present opportunity, such as agriculture, tourism, trade, and minerals-linked activity, also require careful risk assessment, patient capital, and strong execution discipline. The institutions that will succeed are those that can translate national ambition into bankable opportunities while managing risk prudently. For Pride Bank, the task is clear: combine technology with trust, efficiency with empathy, and growth with responsibility, so that we support Uganda’s transformation while remaining a safe, caring, and sustainable bank.

Technology is changing the way we understand banking. How has this impacted Pride Bank, and how are you adapting?

Technology has changed banking from a place customers go to, into a service they expect to access anytime and anywhere. For Pride, the impact is visible in customer expectations. Customers want faster onboarding, digital payments, mobile access, real-time updates, fewer forms, fewer queues, quicker loan decisions, and reliable service. Internally, technology is also changing how we manage credit, risk, reporting, compliance, operations, customer engagement, and productivity.

We are adapting in four main ways.

• First, we are modernising core systems and integration capabilities so that the platforms behind customer service are more reliable, secure, and scalable.
• Second, we are investing in data and analytics to improve credit decisions, customer insights, risk monitoring, and performance management.
• Third, we are expanding agent and ecosystem banking because we do not need to build branches everywhere in order to serve customers everywhere.
• Fourth, we are using automation to reduce manual work, shorten turnaround time, and improve consistency.

But we are very clear that technology is an enabler, not the soul of banking. The human relationship remains important. Our staff are being equipped with better tools so that they can advise customers better, resolve issues faster, and spend more time on value-adding service. Digital trust is therefore central. Customers must feel safe whether they use a phone, an agent, an ATM, or a branch.

Do you think your digital investment is sufficient to compete in a market where the mobile phone has become the preferred choice of transacting?

Sufficiency in technology is a moving target. What is adequate today can quickly become outdated tomorrow. The mobile phone is clearly becoming the customer’s preferred channel. Mobile money and fintech platforms have raised expectations around speed, convenience, simplicity, and availability. We recognise that reality and are responding deliberately.

Our response is not cosmetic. We are investing in mobile banking, internet banking, agency banking, digital onboarding, system reliability, cybersecurity, data analytics, integration, and partnerships with mobile network operators, payment networks, and fintechs. We are not trying to become a telecom company. Our role is to become the trusted financial partner behind the mobile experience for our chosen segments: MSMEs, agriculture value chains, salaried customers, women, youth, and underserved communities.

The gap between aspiration and execution in digital transformation is one of the areas we are determined to close. The Board and Management are aligned that this is a first-order priority. Our commitment is to keep investing, keep listening to customers, and keep moving faster, without compromising security, inclusion, or responsible banking.

Where do you see Pride Bank in the next five years?

By 2030, by God’s grace and through the focused work of our people, I see a Pride Bank that has fulfilled the promise of its Digital First Strategy. I see a stronger and more resilient institution, with a deeper and more diversified deposit base, a healthier loan portfolio anchored in MSMEs and agriculture value chains, a broader revenue mix, improved returns to the shareholder, and a more efficient operating model. I see sustainability embedded in how we govern, lend, invest, operate, and serve communities; not as a side initiative, but as part of how we do banking responsibly. I also see a Bank where customer satisfaction is sustained as a way of life; where digital channels are simple, safe, reliable, and convenient; and where our agent and partnership ecosystem brings banking closer to where people live, work, trade, study, and farm.

But beyond the institutional ambition, I see the human impact. I see the smallholder farmer accessing finance conveniently through her phone, without losing her dignity. I see the trader whose business grows because we took time to understand her cash flows. I see the salaried worker building long-term financial stability through disciplined savings and responsible borrowing. I see the young entrepreneur building a credit history through our digital channels. I see the Pride staff member who grows from a teller into a branch manager because we invested in her potential, and who lives our core values daily by serving customers with integrity, agility, customer centricity, and teamwork. And I see communities becoming more financially resilient because Pride walked alongside them.

The Bible says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3. That verse speaks deeply to how we are building this institution: with prayer, discipline, humility, and responsibility. That is the Pride Bank we are building; commercially strong, digitally relevant, socially responsible, and deeply connected to the people we serve.