Banks Extended Loans Worth Shs20.5 Trillion To Customers In 2023 As Uganda’s Biggest Lenders Revealed

A photo montage of bank CEOs

Commercial banks extended loans worth Shs20.47 trillion to customers in 2023, up from Shs19.06 trillion in 2022, Business Focus exclusively reports.

According to the analyzed financial statements of 25 banks for the year ended 31^st December 2023, Stanbic Bank is Uganda’s biggest lender. This is after its loans advanced to customers grew by 3.3% to Shs4.22 trillion in 2023, up from 4.08 trillion in 2022. This gives Stanbic a market share of 20.61% under this category.

Like on most key performance indicators, Stanbic is followed by Centenary Bank whose loans advanced to customers grew by 17.08% to Shs3.29 trillion in 2023, up from Shs2.81 trillion recorded a year earlier.

Centenary’s market share under the loans category is 16.07%.

Absa Bank is Uganda’s third largest lender with a market share of 8.60%. This is after its loans advanced to customers grew by 12.82% to Shs1.76 trillion in 2023, up from Shs1.560 trillion recorded a year earlier.

Although Equity Bank recorded a loss of Shs18.77bn in 2023, the bank remains one of the biggest lenders in Uganda.

Equity bank’s loans advanced to customers reduced to Shs1.6 trillion in 2023, down from Shs1.62 trillion in 2022.

Its market share under this category is 7.81%.

Bank of Baroda is the 5^th biggest lender in Uganda. Its loans advanced to customers grew by 12.95% to Shs1.23 trillion in 2023, up from Shs1.089 trillion in 2022. This gives the bank a market share of 6.01% under the loans category.

The top five biggest lenders control 59.1% of the market share under the loans category.

dfcu Bank is the sixth largest bank in Uganda by loans advanced to customers with a market share of 5.47%.

Its loans to customers reduced to Shs1.12 trillion in 2023, down from Shs1.36 trillion in 2022.

It’s followed by Standard Chartered Bank in 7^th position. This is after its loans reduced by 8.2% to Shs1.120 trillion, down from Shs1.22 trillion recorded a year earlier.

This gives StanChart a market share of 5.47% under the loans category.

Housing Finance Bank is now the 8^th largest lender in Uganda with a market share of 4.86%. This is after its loans advanced to customers grew by 27.99% to Shs995.7bn in 2023, up from Shs777.94bn in 2022.

Its followed by  Diamond Trust Bank whose loans advanced to customers grew by 10.73% to Shs876.13bn in 2023, up from Shs791.26bn in 2022. Its market share under the loans category is 4.28%.

KCB completes the top 10 largest lenders in Uganda with a market share of 3.72%. Its loans grew by 27.06% to Shs762.46bn in 2023 from Shs600.06bn in 2022.

The top 10 biggest lenders control a commanding 82.9% of the market share under the loans category. This leaves the rest of the banks (10) to share a paltry 17.1%.

 Smallest Lenders

Three banks (ABC, Guaranty Trust Bank, Opportunity Bank) that have since downgraded to Tier Two institutions are among the smallest lenders in Uganda.  ABC Capital Bank is the smallest lender. This is after it extended Shs23.18bn in loans to customers in 2023, up from Shs21.53bn. From bottom of the table, it’s followed by Guaranty Trust Bank (Shs56.3bn), Tropical Bank (Shs111.1bn), UBA ( 136.23bn), Opportunity Bank (Shs140.9bn),Cairo Bank (Shs176.7bn), Ecobank (Shs180.09bn), Exim Bank (Shs185.1bn),Bank of India (Shs197.16bn), NCBA (Shs252.94bn), Finance Trust Bank (Shs291.4bn), I&M Bank (Shs300.9bn), Citibank Uganda (Shs420.33bn), Bank of Africa(Shs426.7bn) and PostBank (Shs602.59bn).