Julius Kakeeto’s Stellar Performance as Uganda Bankers Association Chairman (May 2024 to May 2026)

Pearl Bank Managing Director, Julius Kakeeto concluded his 4-year term as the Chairman of the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA), a role he assumed in May 2024.

The UBA leadership term is two years; however, due to his outstanding leadership, he served an additional two years, which concluded this month.

The two-year tenure was defined by resilience, foresight, and impactful advocacy. Navigating significant regulatory shifts and global market evolutions, he positioned the banking industry as a primary catalyst for Uganda’s socioeconomic transformation.

Under his leadership, UBA transitioned into a proactive partner in shaping fiscal policy, sustainability frameworks, and national security against financial crime.

Guided by the industry’s 2025–2027 strategy, the Chairman spearheaded initiatives aimed at promoting partnerships, transforming banking and ultimately contributing to national development.

1. Strategic Regulatory and Governance Leadership

Chairman Kakeeto transformed industry governance and strengthened the sector’s voice and influence through:

• Regulatory Synergy: Facilitated engagements with the Governor of the Bank of Uganda (BoU) and maintained strategic collaboration with the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) and Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to streamline licensing, address industry wide concerns and support implementation of various guidelines that were issued on Corporate Governance, Climate Risk Management, Cyber risk management among others
• Policy Advocacy: Led the Central Executive Committee in direct engagements with the Ministry of Finance (MoFPED) to align banking goals with the National Budget and macroeconomic stability.
• CEO Workstreams: Led the introduction and operationalization of four high-level CEO workstreams in 2025 (Economy & Sustainability; ADR & Judiciary; Regulatory Reforms; and Emerging Technology) to provide strategic insights and drive industry transformation.
• Executive Development: Launched the inaugural industry governance training for Executive Directors in partnership with Strathmore Business College to enhance leadership resilience and stakeholder management.

1. Economic Transformation & Growth Initiatives

• Tenfold GDP Growth Response: Commissioned an Industry Led Technical Working Group that finalized the banking industry’s response to the Government’s ATMS strategy, focusing on mobilizing capital for SMEs and expanding private sector credit. This plan will guide the industry in implementation of initiatives over the next 15 years that contribute towards the achievement of growth of GDP from current $50bn to $500bn by 2040.

III. ESG, Sustainability, and Social Impact

Chairman Kakeeto solidified UBA’s commitment to sustainable banking and diversity:

• ESG Integration: Launched the Banking Industry ESG Framework in June 2024, reaching the 18-month midpoint of the national ESG roadmap by late 2025.
• The launch of the Banking Industry ESG Framework marked the beginning of an important industry milestone in the journey of embedding ESG principles within the Banking and Financial Services sector to drive sustainability and economic transformation.
• Women Economic Empowerment (WEEI):

Following the launch of WEEI in 2023, the industry formally committed to advancing its social impact and governance pillars of the ESG framework by joining global business leaders in endorsing the UN Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) in 2025. The adoption of the WEPs reinforced UBA’s mission to strengthen collaboration and drive impactful, gender-transformative by mobilizing member institutions and influencing sector-wide standards across Uganda’s banking industry.

Furthermore, in November 2025, UBA signed the We-Fi code. The WE-FI Code is a global community with its secretariat at the World Bank.   UBA is a member of the National Coalition/Steering Committee. Uganda officially became a code country on 19^th November 2025, with Bank of Uganda as the National Data Aggregator, collecting and reporting gender disaggregated data.

This initiative aims to increase access to finance for women entrepreneurs and provide a unified approach for data to be collected. This partnership directly responds to the shared priorities of UN Women and the Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) in advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in the financial sector.

Workforce Evolution: Oversaw a significant shift in industry demographics, with female representation in banking staff increasing from 47% in 2024 to 53% in 2025.

1. National Security and Digital Integrity

A hallmark of his tenure was the proactive defense of the digital financial ecosystem:

• Financial Sector Anti-Fraud Consortium (AFC): Officially launched the AFC in April 2025, creating a unified, intelligence-driven response to cybercrime.
• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Integrated UBA, Payment Systems Providers Association including (MTN MoMo/Airtel Money, Pegasus, Yo Uganda), Bank of Uganda, Uganda Communication Commission, Financial intelligence Authority and Law Enforcement to proactively mitigate threats in the digital economy.

1. Legacy and Outlook

Mr. Julius Kakeeto concludes his term having successfully anchored the 2025–2027 3-year strategy cycle. His efforts earned the Association prestigious recognitions, including awards from aBi Finance for green finance promotion and URA for contributions to the national tax base.

He leaves behind a more inclusive, digitally secure, and ESG-compliant banking sector, prepared to lead Uganda’s economic future.