In line with its purpose of being an “unconventional community-based bank that responsibly provides innovative and impactful financial services”, FINCA has also maintained health profitability. For example, in 2019, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, FINCA registered UGX6 billion in net profit. Although the pandemic affected its customer’s ability to service their loans, FINCA still registered a decent profit of UGX2.2billion and UGX2.4billion in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The healthy financial performance has enhanced FlNCA’s stability, in line with all the regulatory capital requirements. For example, the core capital and total capital adequacy as of the end of 2021, stood at 23.60% and 26.44% respectively compared to the Bank of Uganda’s requirements of 15% and 20%. CEO East Africa Magazine, shines a light on the different executives, leading this growth.
JAMES ONYUTTA
Managing Director
As Managing Director, James leads an Executive Leadership Team focused on FINCA’s vision to build a network of sustainable and scalable social enterprises that improve lives. Under his leadership, FINCA Uganda is empowering its customers through access to sustainable financial solutions.
Before joining FINCA Uganda, James was the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Musoni Kenya Limited, Africa’s first institution to provide a cashless/branchless banking concept. At Musoni, James managed the institution’s transformation to a paperless, cashless, and data-driven microfinance banking model, establishing it as a pioneer in financial services innovation in the Kenyan market.
Before joining Musoni, he spent 13 years with FINCA Africa subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi, most notably as Chief Finance Officer in Uganda and Tanzania. He was a key member of the finance team that revised FINCA International’s Global Subsidiaries Policy and led the project design and implementation team of FINCA Uganda’s Orbit Core Banking system before an Africa Region rollout. He also assisted in the transformation of FINCA Tanzania into a Microfinance Bank.
James is a graduate of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a Certified Expert in Risk Management. He possesses a First-Class Honors degree in Bachelors of Business and Management from Uganda Martyrs University in Nkozi, Uganda, and is an ACCA-UK Certified Chartered Accountant.
ROBERT KAKANDE
Executive Director
Robert has a wealth of practical experience in accounting, finance, banking and leadership spanning over 20 years, 15 of which have been at the C-Suite level.
Before joining FINCA Uganda, Robert worked with Quality Chemicals Ltd as Chief Executive Officer where he was responsible for key positive changes in strategic direction and was the Chief Finance Officer with the same organization.
Robert has also worked with Finance Trust (currently Finance Trust Bank) as Head of Finance and Administration where he made a tremendous contribution towards turning around the company and mapping a new strategic direction to its current status as a commercial bank.
He has also worked with Centenary Bank and practised accountancy. He has facilitated learning as a Lecturer at Makerere University Business School and has research publications under his name.
Robert has undertaken Advanced Executive Leadership training at the Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania) and the Strathmore University Business School as well as the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. He holds a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Finance and a Bachelor of Commerce Honors degree.
He also holds a Higher Diploma in Marketing in addition to being a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda and a Fellow of ACCA-UK.
CLAIRE AKAMPULIRA OCHIENGHS
Head Of Legal, Compliance/Company Secretary
Claire describes herself as a proactive, seasoned corporate legal practitioner with vast experience across many banking functions and financial service sector segments. She wields over 12 years of legal, company secretary and compliance functions in the commercial banking and microfinance industries.
She has for 10+ years working with diverse boards spread across many geographies and gained practical experiences and expertise in governance, corporate law, regulatory compliance, legal advisory, risk management and corporate strategy.
Claire has also served in different capacities in the Uganda Bankers Association – Legal committee and was Chairperson of the Legal Committee for the year 2021.
As an in-house legal and strategic advisor, Claire focuses on developing creative legal solutions that stimulate innovation and enable growth. She is at the helm of leading a legal and compliance team that has positioned the law and regulation as a consistent conduit to business growth.
She says she is on a mission to “develop and transform in-house teams to think and run like the business.”
Amongst other qualifications, Claire holds, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), degree in Commercial Law from Makerere University.
EDWARD SENOGA
Chief Commercial Officer
Edward is a Certified Professional Banker; and has over fifteen years of experience in successfully designing, leading and implementing business strategies for growth.
As Chief Commercial Officer, he is responsible for the development and execution of the business’ growth strategy through developing strategic outreach plans, partnerships and ecosystems.
Edward is driven by a passion to create successful teams, processes and systems that drive aggressive ethical business growth through people & customer centricity to increase returns on investment.
Edward is a certified Professional Banker (CPB) holding a Diploma in banking from the Uganda Institute of Banking & Financial Services and a Certificate in Digital Money from Digital Frontiers Institute, SA.
He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Economics from Makerere University.
RITAH NANTAMU OYOGA
Senior Internal Auditor
Ritah joined FINCA Uganda Limited in June 2018 as a Senior Internal Auditor and was appointed as Head of Internal Audit in July 2020. She has a wealth of practical experience in Internal Auditing, Internal Audit Quality Assessment (Auditor of Auditors), Credit Management, Micro-finance, Banking, and Operations for over 10 years.
Before joining FINCA Uganda Ltd, Ritah worked with Centenary Bank as a Supervisor of Internal Audit.
Ritah holds a BSc. Quantitative Economics from Makerere University and an MBA from the Amity University of India. She is a Certified Public Accountant of Uganda (CPA-U), a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda and the Global Institute of Internal Auditors, (IIA).
MARY LILIAN MANYONGA NABUNYA (NEE)
Head Human Resources
Mary is a multi-sectoral Human Resources (HR) and an Organizational Development (OD) expert, a Certified Trainer and Coach, grounded in business development.
Including at FINCA, she has over fifteen years of experience in successfully designing, leading and implementing human resources business partnering with other leading multi-national organizations such as Stanbic Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank as well as state parastatals like Uganda Management Institute and Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (formerly Uganda Television).
As the FINCA Head of Human Resources, FINCA Uganda, she is in charge of leading and accounting for the implementation of the company HR Strategy in line with organizational policy and strategy, best practices as well as the legal and regulatory frameworks
She is a passionate advocate for diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy as part of FINCA Uganda people pillar. This covers gender representation, talent management, gender pay equality, women-designed services and an inclusive culture.
Mary is a fervent transformative career and performance management coach, a certified transformation coach from Coach Masters Academy, a member of the International Coaching Federation and a chapter founder member of the International Coach Federation, Uganda Chapter. She is also an active member of the Human Resources Manager Association of Uganda (HRMAU).
She holds a master’s in management science, a Human Resources degree from the Uganda Management Institute, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources, also from the Uganda Management Institute. She has also attained a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communications from Makerere University, Uganda, and a Master in Business Administration, from Africa University, Zimbabwe. She also possesses a Post Graduate Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Commerce, (Marketing) from Makerere University, Uganda
JOSEPH BIRYAHWAHO
Head of Risk Management
Joseph Biryahwaho is currently the Head of Risk Management and has worked at FINCA since January 2020. He started his career as a credit officer with Faulu Uganda in 2005, before moving to Stanbic Bank where he served in various roles and moved through the ranks over 14 years, to head the Risk Management function as Head of Operational Risk and acting Chief Risk Officer.
At Stanbic Bank, he established the first business continuity management desk, the first enterprise risk appetite, and stress testing frameworks, the first Information and Cyber Security frameworks, as well as the risk data aggregation and reporting capabilities among other notable milestones.
Joseph moved to FINCA Uganda with a passion for steering corporate strategy more directly, while contributing to the institution’s penetration into the underserved markets of Uganda; leveraging capabilities like data science, digital lending, and recommendation systems.
Mr. Joseph Biryahwaho is a Certified Fraud Examiner with the ACFE, Certified Information Security Manager with ISACA, Professional Risk Manager from PRMIA, an MBA and holds a
Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Accounting) from Makerere University Business School.
How Stanbic Bank CFO Ronald Makata Blends Governance, Technology and Human Leadership to Drive PerformanceDESIRE KALUNGI BAKIIKA
Head Of Credit
Desire holds 14 years of hands-on experience in the microfinance space, 7 of them in senior leadership roles at FINCA Uganda, that include Regional Manager, and Credit Products Manager, from whence he rose to Head of Credit.
As FINCA’s Head of Credit, he is responsible for providing strategic direction and oversight to ensure that FINCA Uganda is adequately monitoring and managing credit risk. He oversees FINCA Uganda’s entire credit administration as well as the management and innovation of credit products and processes, data analytics & credit scoring and loan collection & recovery operations.
He also provides technical consultancy in all credit-related innovations at FINCA Uganda.
He is a strong proponent and champion of the digital transition from high-touch to low-touch digital credit products and processes in microfinance.
Driven by passion and commitment to the financial inclusion agenda, he takes pride in providing customer-centric solutions in the MSE credit segments.
He began his career in 2007, as a Loan Officer at Pride Microfinance Limited and grew through all the major career roles in credit delivery and management.
He moved to FINCA in 2017.
He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration (Finance and Accounting) from Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi; a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Makerere University; a Diploma in Education from Kyambogo University as well as several other credit-related professional development certifications.
DAVID MUHEIRWE
Head Of Information Technology
David is an I.T & Project Management Professional with over 15 years of experience in implementing and managing technology projects & solutions in the financial services and public sector.
Before joining FINCA Uganda, he worked for Mantra Technologies as a Project Manager for key public sector Projects at NITA-U, UNRA and the Parliament of Uganda.
He also previously served as Head of IT at FINCA DRC and UGAFODE Microfinance Ltd.
He has also worked before, with FINCA Impact as a Regional Project Manager handling various IT and digital financial services projects in the DRC, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
David holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, an MBA majoring in Project Management from Makerere University, and a PMP Credential and ITIL Certificate in IT Service Management.
He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and volunteers as a Board director of the PMI Uganda Local Chapter.
PRIMROSE KOBUSINGYE
Head of Marketing
Kobusingye Primrose possesses significant financial marketing expertise, having worked as head of marketing in three big financial institutions in the country. At FINCA Uganda, Primrose oversees marketing, customer service, research, communication, digital marketing and the sales function.
In addition to her responsibilities at FINCA, Primrose also serves as the vice chairperson of the marketing and communication committee at the Uganda Banker’s Association.
She is well-rounded in the fields of geo and subliminal marketing, research communication and customer service.
Before FINCA, she served as the Head of Marketing at Ecobank and Ag. Head of Marketing at Orient Bank, now I&M Bank Uganda. She has also worked with Scanad Advertising agency, Nina Interiors Limited and the Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development (PIBID) in different capacities.
Primrose is passionate about the mentorship of girls. She is a mentor under the MasterCard Global Give Back Foundation. She was nominated in the SAWIL Africa Trailblazers Awards 2021 and New Vision’s Top 40 under 40 2020.
She holds an MBA from the Cyprus Business School, majoring in communication and advertising; a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Makerere University and a postgraduate qualification in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She also holds a certification from the John Maxwell Becoming a Woman of Influence Program and is currently pursuing a qualification in Senior Leadership from the prestigious Strathmore Business School.
CHARLES MUGENI MASIGA CPA
Banking Services Manager
As the Banking Services Manager, Charles is directly responsible for the management of FINCA Uganda’s banking operations and related services.
He is a Finance professional with over 15 years of experience in the banking industry in Uganda.
Charles has also served in other senior management roles at FINCA, including, Management Accountant, Financial Accountant and Ag. Head of Finance.
He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda.
He holds a bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Ndejje University.
TURINAWE MILTON FRANCIS
Administration Manager
Milton has over 12 years of experience, most of which have been in Project Management and quantity surveying, banking, premises and security management, as well as procurement.
Milton joined FINCA Uganda in April 2019 and was appointed Administration Manager in July 2020. Before this, he was the Premises & Security Officer where he managed both the administration and procurement functions.
As a Premises & Security Officer, he oversaw business continuity for all FINCA Uganda branches and the head office as well as was responsible for all civil engineering/cost engineering issues of the organisation including all maintenance and services of all utilities.
Before joining FINCA Uganda, he spent 5 years with Alistan Engineering Limited ( AEL) as a Project Manager and Maintenance Engineer, in charge of proper cost engineering, coordinating /supervising the projects and ensuring that the projects are finished on time within budget.
Before that, Milton worked with Egy Trading and Engineering Projects Ltd as the Projects Quantity Surveyor and Site Manager for 4 years taking lead in many roles including project cost estimations, supervision and involvement in the construction of various projects.
Milton has an ACCPA Certification in Procurement and Supply Chain Management, various certifications with the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPs), a Masters In Business Administration from the Amity University of India, a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management from Uganda Management Institute(UMI), and a Bachelor of Science in Building Economics and Engineering from Kyambogo University.
JOANITA NANSUBUGA
Manager Internal Controls
Joanita is an experienced fraud risk management specialist with 10+ years of hands-on experience in quality controls. She is also an experienced policy monitoring officer.
As FINCA’s Internal Controls Manager, she is responsible for the compliance risk management within the institution, a role that among others includes the development, implementation and maintenance of institution-wide controls coverage plans that help FINCA Uganda remain compliant and avoid regulatory sanctions.
Joanita wields significant microfinance industry experience, spanning over 17 years, seven of which include credit analysis and management expertise.
She holds a certification in Fraud Risk Management from, The Association of Certified Compliance Professionals in Africa (ACCPA). She equally holds other certifications with; The Institution of Banking and financial services. Among them are; Compliance for Supervised Financial Institutions, Combating Financial Crime, Ethics and Professionalism in Financial Services, and Anti-Money Laundering.
