SME lending Archives – CEO East Africa

Pearl Bank Wins Top Agri-SME Lender Award as Aceli Africa Charts Next Phase of Agricultural Finance

Paul MurungiBanking & Financial Services The Big StoryFebruary 19, 2026February 19, 2026

Pearl Bank has been named Best Agri-SME Lender at the Aceli Africa Uganda Stakeholder Roundtable, in a recognition that underscores the bank’s growing influence in agricultural financing. The bank’s Supervisor…

Finance Trust Bank becomes a Tier II Credit Institution: 10 things you must know

Muhereza KyamuteteraBanking & Financial Services The Big StoryFebruary 5, 2026February 8, 2026

To begin with, the licence downgrade was not the result of weak performance or regulatory distress. Rather, it stemmed from structural shifts in Uganda’s banking regulatory framework. In recent years,…

From Three Transactions to a Banking Stake: How PesaPal’s 16-Year Grind Earned KCB’s Fintech Bet

Paul MurungiThe Big StoryNovember 4, 2025November 4, 2025

Kenya’s largest lender, KCB Group Plc, has taken a calculated leap into the fintech frontier with the acquisition of a minority stake in PesaPal Limited, a leading regional payments company…

Robin Bairstow on Growth, Stability, and the SME Push at I&M Bank Uganda

Paul MurungiThe Big StoryAugust 16, 2025August 17, 2025

With retail and SME lending delivering double-digit growth and a major digital overhaul complete, Robin Bairstow, CEO of I&M Bank Uganda, is steering the bank into its next growth phase….