Govt injections drive UDB total asset to Shs1.1 trillion

Finance State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite. PHOTO/FILE

What you need to know:

  • Growth: UDB profits grew to Shs22b in the period ended 2020 from Shs10.14b in 2019. 
  • Finance State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite, said in 2020 government had made available Shs510b in additional funding to UDB to support key sectors, mainly agriculture, agro-industrialisation and manufacturing.

Continuous injections and recapitalisation has lifted Uganda Development Bank asset to Shss1.1 trillion. 
The growth, UDB said, will be redeployed into furthering expansion as well as ensuring solid economic growth and recovery of the economy in 2021 and beyond. 

Speaking during UDB’s annual general meeting in Kampala last week, Finance State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite, said in 2020 government had made available Shs510b in additional funding to UDB to support key sectors, mainly agriculture, agro-industrialisation and manufacturing.

This, she said, had been a composition of emergency and long-term funding to ensure that the bank achieves long term strategic plans aligned under the third phase of the National Development Plan. 

“While these funds were part of the stimulus package by government, the component to UDB was to support resilience and recovery of the economy post-Covid-19 by providing funds to support businesses in agriculture, agro-Industrialisation and manufacturing,” she said.

Ms Anite also dismissed claims that UDB had not received any bailout money purposed towards supporting firms affected by Covid-19.  
“UDB is supposed to ensure it funds businesses that are sustainable and are able to repay loans it advances,” she said, noting it was important that the bank puts in place credit appraisal processes, which although might seem stringent, protect taxpayers’ money.  

The bank, she also noted, was principally mandated to provide medium and long-term financing to improve productivity, efficiency, sustainability, and resilience to selected sectors, which therefore, disqualifies some firms from accessing money from the bank. 

Ms Patricia Ojangole, the UDB managing director, said for the period ended December 2020, the bank returned a profit of Shs22b up from Shs10.14b in 2019, which as she said, will be retained as additional capital for onward borrowing and financing. UDB is 100 per cent owned by government under the Ministry of Finance.  

Ms Ojangole noted that enterprises funded by UDB had, during the period, produced a total value output of Shs2.5 trillion up from Shs1.8 trillion in 2019. 
Similarly, she said, profitability of t businesses funded by the bank had improved by 131 per cent from Shs178b in 2019 to Shs409.4b.