UGANDA – Development Finance Company of Uganda Bank Limited (dfcu Bank), a commercial bank, has appointed Hope Ekudu as the new Chief Operating Officer, replacing Mr Andrew Kabeera.
Ms Ekudu joined the Bank’s senior management team and will provide strategic leadership to the Operations function with a focus on driving operational excellence.
With a banking career spanning over 13 years, Ekudu has held several roles at management level including Head of Business and Institutional Banking, Head of Operations and Business Technology as well as Head of Retail Banking. She has joined dfcu from Housing Finance Bank.
Before joining Housing Finance Bank, she worked in various roles within the Operations department in Barclays Bank Uganda and was an active member of the change and diversity/ inclusion committees.
Ekudu’s expertise in strategic planning, IT project management, core bank operations, risk management and business development will be instrumental in driving operational excellence and enhancing the delivery of great experience across all customer touchpoints.
She is a certified Retail Banker, ITIL certified (foundation level) who holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University (Scotland).
Ekudu is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Programme (an executive leadership by Strathmore University, Kenya) and the CEO apprenticeship programme run by the CEO summit in Uganda.
Recently, dfcu Bank signed a tripartite agreement with Rabobank, Embassy of Kingdom of Netherlands (EKN)to enhance financial and digital inclusion in Uganda.
The partnership implemented through a three-year Technical Assistance (TA) program was announced during a virtual signing ceremony attended by the Head of Rabo Partnerships Advisory, Mr. David Gerbrands, deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands to Uganda, Joris van Bommel and dfcu Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Mathias Katamba.
This partnership builds on the long-term association between Rabo Partnerships and dfcu Bank which started in 2014 with a five-year Technical Assistance program valued. The objective was to achieve structural improvement in access to financial services, deepening of agriculture-finance and increasing deposit mobilization in Uganda.
The program was supported by The Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands.
dfcu Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Mathias Katamba noted that through the initial TA program dfcu made significant steps towards positioning itself as the bank of choice for agri-finance while consolidating its position as the leader in the SME market segment.
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