Arapta takes over from Mathias Katamba, the Managing Director of dfcu Bank, whose two-year term (2020 and 2021) has elapsed. Arapta has been Katamba’s deputy on the outgoing committee which also included Mr. Varghese Thambi, the Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Trust Bank as the treasurer as well as Sam Ntulume the Executive Director, of I&M Bank Uganda as the Auditor. Mr Albert Saltson the CEO Emeritus of Standard Chartered Bank and Ms. Veronicah Gladys Namagembe, CEO of Pride Microfinance, have been Committee Members. The new Arapta Committee has Julius Kakeeto, CEO, of Post Bank Uganda, as the Vice-Chair, while Shem Kakembo, CEO, of EFC Uganda, is the Treasurer. Raj Kumar Meena, CEO, of Bank of Baroda is the Auditor while Mr Olalekan Sanusi, CEO, of Guaranty Trust Bank and James Onyutta, CEO, of FINCA (U) Ltd, are Committee Members.
Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) is an umbrella organization for financial institutions licensed and supervised by the Bank of Uganda. Established in 1981, UBA is currently made up of 26 commercial banks, 2 development Banks and 8 Tier 2 & Tier 3 Financial Institutions. The members are represented by their respective CEOs while the Executive Committee- the Apex Governance body is made up of the member bank CEOs. The day-to-day work of the association is carried out by the Secretariat, which is headed by an Executive Director, presently, Wilbrod Owor.
CEO East Africa Magazine delves further into the details of the new executive and the kind of experience they bring to the industry, especially during this critical time, as it emerges out of the pandemic-induced shocks as well as faces a fast and dynamic digital world.
Sarah Arapta
Chairperson
Sarah Arapta is the Chief Executive for Citibank Uganda, a position she was appointed to in January 2016. Sarah has an extensive and illustrious career in Corporate and Investment Banking of over 20 years, 12 of which have been spent in Citibank; She has held a number of senior positions in Barclay’s Bank of Uganda as Director, CIB and before that as Head Corporate Banking and Head Investment Banking in Stanbic Bank Uganda.
Sarah is the first woman and indeed the first Ugandan to be appointed Chief Executive and Managing Director of Citibank in Uganda. Since taking over Citibank in January 2016, she has grown the bank from a UGX951.1 billion-asset bank to UGX1.409 trillion.
Sarah holds an MBA from Herriot-Watt University Edinburgh Business School Scotland and a B.A (Economics) from Makerere University Kampala.
She is an advocate of women’s empowerment and is passionate about delivering with impact. Sarah is an ardent jogger and swimmer.
Before being elected Chairperson, she was the Vice-Chairperson of the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA).
Julius Kakeeto
Vice-Chairperson
Julius Kakeeto has a wealth of banking experience spanning over 20 years in Uganda and the United Kingdom.
He started his career at Ernst & Young before joining Citibank where he served in various capacities. From Citibank, Kakeeto joined Equity Bank as Finance Director before joining I&M Bank Uganda (formerly Orient Bank) as the Director of Business Development. He was subsequently promoted to Executive Director and later Managing Director / CEO at Orient Bank.
Kakeeto joined PostBank Uganda (PBU) two and a half years ago and during this period he has overseen various changes and transformations in the bank that have led to the growth of the brand, balance sheet, improvement in profitability and the bank’s ascent to a Tier 1 (fully-fledged commercial bank). The changes have included restructuring the workforce, rolling out digital channels and driving customer penetration, upgrade of the core banking system, upgrade of the switch and opening new distribution touchpoints (Agents, branches, ATMs).
He previously served as a member of the Governing Council of the Uganda Securities Exchange and is also the immediate past Council President of the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services.
Kakeeto is a Fellow Chartered Accountant, a member of ICPAU and an alumnus of Manchester Business School where he obtained a master’s in business administration.
Raj Kumar Meena
Auditor
Mr Raj Kumar Meena is the Managing Director of Bank of Baroda (Uganda) Limited with effect from April 01, 2020. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce, a Postgraduate with Executive MBA in Human Resource Management and is also a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance.
Pearl Bank Celebrates Customers in Festive Campaign Dubbed Pearl SantaMr Meena joined the Bank of Baroda, India on June 01, 1992. He has a rich and varied banking experience of more than 30 years in various capacities and functional areas such as Regional Manager, Assistant General Manager of State Level Bankers Committee, Regional Business Development Manager, Chief Manager Branch Operations, Training Center Head, Lead District Manager and Branch Head in India before taking up his present assignment as Managing Director.
Shem Kakembo
Treasurer
Shem Kakembo is a certified retail banker, a certified accountant, and a professional leader from the Wharton School with over 20 years of experience and expertise in the financial industry.
As Managing Director of EFC Uganda Limited, one of the leading microfinance deposit-taking institutions in Uganda, he has driven the growth and success of the organization over the last 4 years.
Shem kicked off his banking career in 2003 with Finance Trust Bank, before moving to World Vision USA, Vision Fund and later Stanbic Bank for over 5 years all in different leadership roles.
He is passionate about people, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship and the overall issues of finance & economics.
James Onyutta
Committee Member
James Onyutta is the Managing Director of FINCA Uganda Limited (MDI). 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.
Prior to 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. He was in charge of supervising 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.
Prior to joining Musoni, he spent 13 years with FINCA Africa’s 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, led the project design and implementation team of FINCA Uganda’s Orbit Core Banking system before an Africa Region roll and assisted in the transformation of FINCA Tanzania to 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.
Olalekan Sanusi
Committee Member
Mr. Olalekan Sanusi is the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Uganda, a bank that he has turned around from a UGX10.1 billion loss in 2018 to year-on-year profitability from 2019, through to 2021. In 2021, the bank made a UGX5.3 billion profit.
Sanusi has been part of Guaranty Trust Bank Group for the largest part of his more than two-decade-long banking career. Prior to Uganda, Sanusi was the Managing Director of GTBank Ghana Ltd (January 2012 – April 2018). He also led Guaranty Trust Bank Gambia Limited (January 2006 – September 2011).
He holds a first-class honours Bachelor’s of Economics (Ogun State University, 1989) and Master of Science degree in Economics (University of Lagos, 1995). He also obtained a Master of Arts degree in Banking and Finance from Sheffield, UK (1996).
