UBA’s Joseph Kiwanuka Balikuddembe (48 years), has been appointed the Executive Director, Centenary Bank, CEO East Africa Magazine, can exclusively reveal.
The Executive Director role at Centenary Bank fell vacant in February 2020 after the demise of Dr. Simon Kagugube, who occupied the office since 2003.
Mr Balikuddembe’s appointment ends a one-year search process that at one time saw Herman Kasekende, a Ugandan banker, and currently, the Managing Director of Standard Chartered Bank Zambia appointed, but rejected by Bank of Uganda, over unknown reasons.
In October 2020, we reported that Mr. Kasekende had been picked to join Centenary Bank, Uganda’s second-largest bank, but Fabian Kasi, the Managing Director Centenary Bank, told us there were “no approvals yet.”
Centenary Bank, through PricewaterhouseCoopers, advertised for the position in May 2020.
21 years of banking excellence
Born in 1973, Joseph has been in the banking industry for over 21 years, 6 of which have been at the Executive Committee (EXCO) level.
He started his banking career at Centenary Bank as a Management Trainee in February 1999 and in October 1999 he briefly became a Banking Officer before moving to the Loans Division in December 1999 until 2005.
In April 2005 he joined Stanbic Bank as a Business Banker in the Personal and Business Banking Division. In January 2007, he was promoted to Business Manager in the same division. In October 2007, he was picked by Barclays Bank (now Absa Bank Uganda) to become a Relationship Manager in charge of Multinationals and Large Corporates under the Corporate and Investment Banking division. In February 2012 he became the Vice President, Head of Trade Finance, still in the Corporate and Investment Banking division.
Between January and May 2014, he briefly served as the Acting Head of Transactional Services and in May 2014, he was appointed, Vice President, Head of Business Banking, Retail and Business Banking until May 2016 when he left to join United Bank for Africa (UBA) as an Executive Director, Business Development in starting June 2016. In that capacity, he oversaw 5 business units, namely: Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Institutional Banking, Public Sector and Digital & Transactional Banking Sales as well as the business operations.
At UBA he was central to the bank’s turnaround from loss-making to profitability in 2016 for the very first time since 2008. In 2016 UBA registered Profit Before Tax of UGX4.45 billion, up from a loss of UGX2.6 billion in 2015. The bank has remained profitable since, registering a profit of UGX9.1 billion in 2019.
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He brings to Centenary Bank over 10 years’ experience in Corporate Banking as well as several years of Sales and Relationship Management for Corporate, Public Sector, Institutional and Retail Clients. This includes 8 years in leadership and senior management positions and 4 years of deal and trade finance structuring.
He holds a Master’s in Business Administration (Finance and Strategy) from the prestigious Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University and a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Agriculture from Makerere University (1998).
Balikuddembe who is a staunch Christian, comes from a family with a rich financial services history. His father, Mr. Joseph William Kiwanuka is one of the founders and Managing Director of Statewide Insurance one of the leading insurance companies.
About Centenary Bank
Centenary Bank is Uganda’s second-largest bank by assets, deposits and lending. As at the end of 2019. the bank had UGX3.6 trillion in assets (11% market share); UGX2.5 trillion in deposits (11% market share) and the bank was also the second most profitable, with UGX156 billion in profits after tax.
This July, the bank announced that it had completed a corporate reorganisation that saw the establishment of Cente Group on 25 October 2019 and the formation, on 6th November 2019 of a banking subsidiary named Centenary Rural Development Bank Limited.
On 16 March 2020, the Bank of Uganda approved the issue of a commercial banking licence to the Cente Group banking subsidiary with effect from 1 July 2020, the same date on which Cente Group would relinquish its banking business to the banking subsidiary.
“The day-to-day banking operations will continue as normal under the subsidiary Bank. The reorganisation will have no impact on employees, customers, and clients, and the same level of service that has been offered in the past will continue under the Bank,” Prof. John Ddumba Ssentamu, the Group Chairman said in the announcement.
“The creation of a group structure is a landmark achievement for Cente Group and its shareholders and offers a route through which Cente Group can expand to other activities, which will operate alongside the banking business. The Directors of both Cente Group and the Bank expect that the reorganisation will benefit the shareholders in the form of enhanced returns as well as provide customers and the general public a broader spectrum of financial services through an expanded portfolio. Crucially, the reorganisation will allow Cente Group to optimally achieve its social mission, attain operational efficiencies and enjoy the benefits of diversification,” he further said.
