Absa Bank Uganda Limited
Absa Bank Uganda Limited, formerly known as Barclays Bank of Uganda Limited, is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator. The bank is a subsidiary of Absa Group Limited, a financial services conglomerate, based in South Africa, with banking subsidiaries in 12 African countries and representative offices in two other African countries. Absa Bank Group, whose shares trade on the JSE Limited, was reported to have total assets in excess of US$91 billion, as of October 2019.   Overview. The bank is primarily  involved in meeting the banking needs of individuals, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and large corporations. Before 2006, the bank focused on meeting the banking needs of only large corporations and high-net-worth individuals. That focus was loosened to include SMEs and regular customers. As of December 2021, the bank's total assets were valued at UGX:3.9 trillion (US$1.1 billion), with shareholders' equity of UGX:521.956 billion (US$148 million). That year, the bank's after-tax profit was USh:110 billion (US$31.2 million).As of 31 December 2019, Absa Bank Uganda was the third-largest commercial bank in  the country, by assets. History. The bank opened in 1927, with two branches in the capital city, Kampala, and one in Jinja, the country's second-largest commercial centre, at that time. In 1969, the bank acquired the Ugandan business of the Commercial Bank of Africa. In February 2007, the bank completed its acquisition of Nile Bank Uganda Limited, strengthening its presence in the country. Ownership. In 1969, the bank's stock was 51 percent held by Barclays and 49 percent held by the government of Uganda. By 2001, the bank had become a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays. Since  March 2016, the bank has been wholly owned by the Barclays Africa Group. With the re-branding of Barclays Africa Group, in 2018, Absa Bank Uganda is a 100 percent subsidiary of Absa Group Limited. Branch network. The bank's headquarters is at 2 Hannington Road, on Nakasero Hill, in Kampala. , the bank maintained branches at the following locations: Name change. Beginning in August 2019, Barclays Bank of Uganda began re-branding to Absa Bank Uganda Limited. The process concluded on 11 November 2019, when the legal and business names of the bank changed to Absa Bank Uganda Limited. Governance . The bank is governed by a board of directors. The chairman of the board is one of the non-executive directors. As of March 2020, the Acting Chairperson was Nadine Byarugaba. Effective 1 April 2020 Mumba Kalifungwa began serving as the substantive Managing Director and CEO. The former managing director is Mian Nazim Mahmood. He was appointed in July 2019, as Interim CEO, while a substantive chief executive was being sought. Nazim holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, awarded by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Bentley College, in Waltham, Massachusetts , all in the United States. Before that Rakesh Jha served in that position. He holds an MBA in Marketing gained from IMED and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree gained from the University of Mumbai. Immediately prior to his appointment as managing director, Jha was managing director of Barclays Bank Seychelles. As of October 2021, the members of the board are as listed in the table below. Innovation. In December 2021, Absa Bank Uganda was the first financial institution in the country to introduce ATM machines capable of accepting and dispensing cash, using smart mobile phones, without the presence of  the traditional ATM card. The Absa Banking App generates a QR Code, which the customer scans on to the ATM screen and then allows the execution of the desired transaction.