To meet the growing demand for vehicles and equipment leasing, especially by businesses, Housing Finance Bank has called for a closer collaboration by ecosystem players such as financiers, asset vendors, independent leasing firms and insurers.
This call was emphasised at the Housing Finance Bank organised Vehicle and Asset Financing (VAF) Partners’ Forum. The forum’s core objective is to share industry insights, best practices, and opportunities that can drive Uganda’s socio-economic growth and prosperity.
The forum that took place yesterday, March 26th 2024 brought together various players in the VAF ecosystem such as CFAO Mobility, MAC East Africa, RentCo, SKENYA Motors, Pacific Diagnostics, Atlas Cargo, Double Q, Babu Motors, and Victoria Motors. It also brought together insurers such as CIC Insurance and SWICO.
Speaking at the Forum, Peace Ayebazibwe, the Executive Director at Housing Finance Bank noted that whereas the Bank is popularly known for its legacy mortgage solutions, it goes beyond to provide mainstream financial solutions within its scope as a fully-fledged commercial bank that includes VAF solutions implemented alongside strategic partners focused on respective productive movable assets in all the economic and social sectors.
“As asset vendors and insurers, you form an integral part of the delivery process of our Vehicle & Asset Financing (VAF) solutions as partners. And this is why we are intentional about engaging you directly on how we can enhance our collaboration to increase uptake and value in this space,” she said.
Michael Mugabi, Managing Director of Housing Finance Bank, reiterated the importance of partnerships and synergies for mutual business prosperity and socioeconomic development.
“Uganda’s positive economic growth outlook speaks to the huge opportunities for all of us as players in the vehicle and asset financing market. This will lead to an exponential increase in the uptake of our respective services by Ugandans since the demand for vehicles and equipment, financial services such as asset financing, and insurance in addition to auxiliary services is rising,” he said.
He also added that Housing Finance Bank is looking to utilise partnerships in the asset financing sector to advance the Bank’s Environmental, Social, and Governance agenda through working with ecosystem players within eco-friendly technologies, electric vehicles (EVs), and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) spaces.
Richard Elimu, Group Chief Executive at the Riel Group Africa, a dealer in pre-owned heavy commercial trucks, shared his perspective on the partners’ forum and highlighted Housing Finance Bank’s continued support to players in the asset financing sector.
“We have walked this journey of asset financing together with Housing Finance Bank for about ten years. Within this period, most of the customers I have referred to the Bank have gotten the facility they require for their assets. So, I request that the Housing Finance Bank has more of these engagements. As suppliers, we should understand what the Bank needs so that they can take the customers through this process to ensure a smooth process with the Bank,” he said.