Stanbic Banks gets regulator awards for promoting farming loans

May 31, 2019 in Business, Finance, Financial Services, Investment, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Kasaija (third right) hands over a plaque to officials from Stanbic Bank Uganda which won overall Best Performing PFI on Thursday.

May 31—Financial regulator, Bank of Uganda (BoU), has picked Stanbic Bank Uganda, Post Bank and dfcu Bank as exemplary performers in promoting the objectives of the Agricultural Credit Facility (ACF) which falls under BoU preview.

The ACF was set up by the government in partnership with commercial banks, Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL), Micro Deposit Taking Institutions (MDIs) and Credit Institutions to lend money to farms with bankable projects.

According to Louis Kasekende, the BoU Deputy Governor, the purpose of the ACF awards was to recognize the efforts of best performing banks in achieving the schemes objectives while also mobilizing support and growth in agricultural lending.

“Given the objectives that the Facility was primarily set up for, I believe the ACF has been a success contrarily to the belief held by some people that the fund is not working and is inaccessible for the majority of farmers. We have seen an increase in agricultural credit financing and an improvement in agricultural production,” he said.

Stanbic Bank won overall best performing Participating Financial Institution (PFI) in the commercial bank category, followed by dfcu Bank and Uganda Development Bank while Post Bank won the overall performing PFI in the credit institutions and MDI category followed by Opportunity Bank and Mercantile Credit Bank.

All ACF loan applications are channeled through the PFIs. The PFIs analyse the loan requests as per their credit policy to ensure that only eligible projects are financed. The PFIs disburse their own funds to eligible projects and subsequently request for reimbursement of the government contribution from BoU.

Stanbic Bank, Post Bank and dfcu Bank also dominated the other categories including; highest loan Applications, highest loans applications absorption rates,  the highest number of loans disbursed category, interest in the scheme category, highest outreach to small borrowers, highest national coverage by region and application dossier comprehensiveness.

Finance minister, Matia Kasaija who presided over the occasion said, “Agriculture is the only sector that can guarantee growth for the majority of Ugandans. I am told there has been improvement in agricultural financing, but a lot still needs to be done.”