Centenary Bank Leads the Charge in Green Finance with Landmark Forum

Centenary Bank, the largest commercial microfinance bank in Uganda recently partnered with the African Guarantee Fund to host the Green Finance Forum an event aimed at providing knowledge on awareness and opportunities in the green finance space.

The forum brought together key sector players and industry partners for a round table discussion on how to make Green Financing more accessible.

According to the International Centre for Industrial Transformation, green financing refers to loans that support environmentally friendly activities and offer sustainable solutions within the green supply chain. A key focus of the forum’s agenda was around exploring opportunities in green energy financing, particularly for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with emphasis on how businesses can benefit from this type of financing.

David Birimumaso, the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Energy Efficiency and Conservation at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, urged Ugandans to prioritize understanding consumer needs as a crucial step toward scaling up green financing options.

“It is important for sector players to continuously retool themselves to enhance their skills and products, ensuring they meet consumer needs and adapt to ever-evolving technology. This ensures that financing supports the delivery of high-quality services to the end user,” said Birimumaso.

Speaking on behalf of the Managing Director, Charles Kabanda, the General Manager of Retail and Microfinance at Centenary Bank, reiterated the importance of collaboration in driving the increased usage of green products and boosting their financing uptake.

“Today key individuals in the Green Finance sector have met to discuss ways to provide sustainable financing options across the entire green supply chain. Through our discussions, we have had a productive exchange of ideas on the opportunities available in green financing. These conversations are vital for developing solutions that will strengthen the provision of green energy financing. At the heart of this agenda are SMEs and key actors within the green supply chain and our focus has been on how they can leverage such financing to grow their businesses while passing on the benefits to end users,” Kabanda emphasized.

Abdul Kyanika Nsibambi, the manager of Housing and Renewable Energy business at Centenary Bank, in addition, called for more awareness around Green Financing as a way to maximise its impact.

“Together with the African Guarantee Fund, we wanted to increase awareness of Green Finance Loans and funding in order to accelerate the growth of ecofriendly businesses. At Centenary Bank, we hold this discussion close to our minds and we have introduced affordable loans plus great rates for businesses to access these loans,” Nsibambi stressed.

Centenary Bank announced that households, educational institutions and businesses are to benefit from a clean energy financing product that will enable them to acquire clean energy technologies for lighting, cooking, and practicing climate smart agriculture among others.

“Back in the days, schools and hospitals used boilers to cook but these are nowhere to be seen as firewood has taken over. We want to help these institutions acquire renewable energy.We have around shs50 billion in loans for renewable energy and this financing is available for the entire supply chain including importers, distributors wholesalers, retailers and the end users,” Nsibambi said.

He revealed that just this year, the bank has dished out more than 1000 loans for renewable energy, noting this is part of their environmental social and governance agenda to protect the environment.

He said the shs50 billion is part of funds provided by the African Guarantee Fund(shs20 billion) and Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company( shs10 billion) among other partners to support the bank’s green financing agenda.

“These are low interest loans that will be promoted by the bank. We shall be giving loans from as low as shs100,000 to individuals up to as much as shs20 billion to large institutions like factories and importers,” Nsibambi said.

The Green Finance Forum aligns with the mission and vision of Centenary Bank, which is committed to transforming lives by offering appropriate financial services in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.