KAMPALA – The First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Janet Museveni has lauded the spirit of social responsibility and giving back to the community exhibited by BRAC, through BRAC Uganda Bank Ltd.
Gracing the 50th-anniversary celebrations under the theme: “50 Years of Igniting Hope from Bangladesh to the World”, the First Lady who was Guest of Honour paid special tribute to BRAC’s founder, the late Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, for sharing his dream of empowering people and communities, in Bangladesh and beyond.
She described BRAC’s work and impact in Uganda as an excellent representation of serving humanity.
“My hope and prayer are that their work in Uganda will rub off on our people so that they can learn to build, empower themselves, work with integrity, and change the face of Uganda. Uganda will not change until Ugandans rise up and change it,” Janet said, also commending the bank for supporting and encouraging women in business to be proactive.
On his part, Dr. Michael Atingi-Ego, the Deputy-Governor of Uganda’s central Bank praised BRAC Uganda Bank’s contributions to financial inclusion in Uganda.
He quoted the significant growth in the adult population with access to formal financial services – from 20% in 2011 to 66% in 2021.
The Deputy Governor reiterated the need for all stakeholders to contribute to making financial services in Uganda more accessible and more inclusive.
Shameran Abed, the Executive Director of BRAC International commended the First Lady for the invitation she extended to Sir Fazle to bring BRAC to Uganda.
“Building on nearly two decades of experience with communities all across Uganda, we will deepen our work in the critical areas of financial inclusion, extreme poverty and early childhood development. Hon Maama Janet, thank you for your invitation to my father to work in Uganda all those years ago, and for being such a strong supporter of BRAC. So much of what we are celebrating here today is owed to your vision of what this partnership could achieve.”
BRAC has been working in Uganda since 2006, marking this year its 17th year in the country. Its microfinance, BRAC Uganda Bank Ltd (BUBL) is one of the largest providers of financial services in Uganda. BUBL’s mission is to provide a range of financial services to people living in poverty, especially women, to build sustainable livelihoods. The NGO works with communities, providing holistic services including integrated, quality health care; early childhood development through play-based education; safe spaces for adolescent girls and young women to empower themselves; vocational education and training for skills and employability; emergency response and preparedness; and time-bound interventions to help families escape extreme poverty long-term.
Nkosilathi Moyo, Chief Executive Officer of BRAC Uganda Bank Ltd, recognized BUBL’s achievement of having the largest network of banking services in Uganda, with 32 Credit Institution locations and 130 satellite branches. He also reiterated BUBL’s commitment to reaching more underserved people, especially women, saying, “We have not come this far too just come this far. By 2027, we hope to reach 250,000 borrowers, of whom 65% will be populations living in poverty and 90% populations living in rural areas.”
