Uganda Development Bank’s Ojangole Wins Leader Of The Year 2021

The Managing Director Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL), Patricia Ojangole, has been named Sustainability Leader of the Year 2021 during the Karlsruhe Sustainable Awards ceremony, held annually in Germany.

Awarded by the International Council of Sustainability Standards for Value Driven Financial Institutions during the 2nd World Development Finance Forum (WDFF), the accolade is given to individuals and or institutions that demonstrate commitment to creating value for all their stakeholders and the environment.

“Congratulations on winning this Award to recognise your exceptional leadership in driving the business performance of UDBL through creating social, economic and environmental values and globally advancing sustainable finance. This honour is conferred, among others, for challenging the status quo, ensuring long term corporate success and inspiring stakeholders to support the sustainability journey of your institution,” said Arshad Rab, the Chairman of the International Council of Sustainability Standards (ICSS) for value Driven Financial Institutions, during the Award ceremony.

“We not only honour your exceptional leadership at the global level, but also honour Uganda and the people of your country for their high potential to excel in every field and play a strong role in creating a more just, environmentally friendly and prosperous world,” he added.

Received by the Ambassador of Uganda to Germany, Amb E. Marcel Robert Tibaleka, the Award reconfirms the Bank’s successful execution of its mandate to improve the lives of Ugandans.

“Today, I have the honour of receiving, on behalf of the Bank, this award in recognition of the UDB’s deliberate commitment towards engendering sustainability in the Bank, and in Uganda as a whole,” said Amb Tibaleka.

In her acceptance speech, Ms. Ojangole dedicated the Award to every Ugandan who has participated in the noble cause of promoting the sustainable development agenda of Uganda.

“We, in a special way, recognize and acknowledge our customers who have become partners in development in our undertakings to improve the quality of lives of Ugandans and fully recognize that their support and continued trust is a significant part of who we are and our success story today,” she said.

“We thank our shareholder, the Government of Uganda who continue to support and guide UDBL towards the achievement of our goals,” she added.

UDBL hadco-hosted the World Development Finance Forum 2021 – a global gathering of financial sector players drawn from policy makers, regulators, and leaders from the financial sector from 50 countries, to examine cutting-edge solutions for financing the post-pandemic economy and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The two-day meeting was presided over by the Finance Minister Hon Matia Kasaija, who also delivered a statement from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to the leadership of the financial sector in Uganda. The President, who was pleased that the forum focused on introducing new solutions to make the financial industry a powerful force of sustainable industrialization, emphasized that all financial institutions operating in Uganda were now expected to align their business strategies with the development needs of the country and with the well being of its people and the environment.

In his remarks, Hon Kasaija called upon financial institutions operating in Uganda to embrace sustainability and ensure profits are not made at the cost of livelihoods of Ugandans.

While closing the meeting, the Deputy Governor Bank of Uganda, Dr Michael Ating-Ego lauded UDBL for its role in the development of Uganda and commented that sustainability is best utilized by balancing the different values of the financial sector rather than focusing on one.

The WDFF is jointly organized by the Association of Development Finance Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), Association of National Development Finance Institutions in Member Countries of the Islamic Development Bank (ADFIMI), Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI), European Organisation for Sustainable Development, as well as the Government of Uganda and the Uganda Development Bank Ltd.

Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDB) is the country’s national Development Finance Institution (DFI) with a mandate to accelerate socio-economic development in Uganda, through sustainable financial interventions. Consistent with this mandate, the Bank supports projects within the private sector that demonstrate potential to deliver high socio-economic value, in terms of job creation, improved production output, tax contribution and foreign exchange generation, among other outcomes.

These projects fall within the key priority sectors of our economy, and in line with Uganda’s development priorities, the Bank’s financing interventions are mainly in Primary Agriculture, Agro-processing, and manufacturing which account for about 80 per cent of its investment portfolio. The Bank however undertakes specific interventions in other sectors including tourism, human capital development and infrastructure including ICT.