Centenary Group has launched a 4 month long celebration to commemorate 40 years of its operations in Uganda.
The ruby jubilee celebrations which will be marked with a number of activities were launched on Saturday, June 10th, with a call to stakeholders to work toward pushing the banking institution to the number one spot in the country.
“We don’t hide our intention to become the number one bank in Uganda,” said Bishop Joseph Anthony Zziwa, the Chairman of the Uganda Episcopal Conference.
“I think we are currently number two, but we cannot settle for that because there is a good reason why we want to be number one.”
Bishop Ziwa who spoke as chief guest at the celebrations launch, warned however that for this milestone to be achieved, the bank needs to stick to its founding principles.
“We have many competitors, but unless we maintain our vision, ideals and mission, we might fall like most people have fallen. We must leave no one behind in the banking sector; Centenary wants to walk with everyone both the rich and the poor, but right now it appears that the attention is being given to the core group and the rural people may think they are isolated. We must keep watch over that because that is where we started.”
Mr Joseph Balikuddembe, the Executive Director Centenary Bank praised the long journey that the bank has walked over the past four decades, which has produced fruits to the people of Uganda.
The bank’s story, he said, has been one of resilience, hard work.
“We are now the largest commercial microfinance bank in the country serving in excess of 2.6million customers with an asset base of about 5.5 trillion,” he said.
On his part, Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu, the Centenary Group chairman also looked back at the institution’s incredible journey which started at a time the country was going through a tumultuous political period, and expressed gratification at the numerous achievements they have realized.
These, he said, include the construction of Mapeera House using their own resources, maintaining high dividends to shareholders, expanding the bank’s branch network and transforming the commercial bank into the group structure in 2020.
Centenary Bank which traces its genesis to 1983, has since grown to become one of the largest banks in the region, expanding its influence through subsidiary companies including a technology firm known as Centenary Technology Services, a regional bank known as Centenary Bank in Malawi and a foundation known as Centenary Foundation.
At the end of the 4 months of celebration, a grand finale will be held in Kampala.