Nigerian Banks Fail to Deliver on Their Threat to Shake Up Ugandan Market Seventeen years after promising to “crash queues” and shake up Uganda’s banking sector, Nigerian banks are instead watching from the sidelines. United Bank for Africa and GTBank have struggled with weak lending, shrinking profits, and minimal market share—surviving more on government securities than customers. Meanwhile, local, Kenyan, and South African banks are racing ahead with deposits, credit, and relevance.

In a 2007 pre-opening interview with the CEO East Africa Magazine, Manz Denga, the then United Bank for Africa (UBA) Managing Director, spoke strongly about his bank’s ambitions in Uganda. “Ugandan banking halls are characterised by long queues. I will crash those queues. I will reduce interest rates, improve customer services and be conveniently located and available,” he declared. At the time, Denga was full of confidence and fire, determined to bring Nigeria’s banking revolution to East Africa. His bank, UBA, was entering Uganda as a greenfield operation and wanted to redefine customer experience in a sector then dominated by…