Angela Ndawula, the Head Business and Institutional Banking at Housing Finance Bank
Housing Finance Bank recently launched the Kingdom Development Organ aimed at stimulating community-based resource mobilization in partnership with the Church of Uganda. We caught up with Angela Ndawula, the Head Business and Institutional Banking at Housing Finance Bank who explained the initiative and why the bank has invested in it.
Below are the excerpts.
Qn: Please tell us more about the Kingdom Development Organ (KIDO) program and its objectives.
The Kingdom Development Organ, commonly known as KIDO, is a social economic program under the supervision of the Archbishop and the Bishops of the Church of Uganda. The main objective is to stimulate resource mobilization to finance key social services in health and education within Church of Uganda.
We also know that the ultimate aim of the program is to improve the lives of the members of Church of Uganda through access to safe, secure and affordable loans without security, so as to drive investments in income generating activities.
Qn: When was this program introduced and how does it work?
After a series of consultative meetings with Church of Uganda, KIDO was launched in April 2021 during the Church of Uganda 60 years’ celebration presided over by the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda.
As you know, the Church of Uganda is split into 37 dioceses with each diocese having approximately 20,000 members. KIDO is empowering these members to save through their different dioceses and they will also be able to access some benefits, namely;
- Each qualifying diocese will be able to access a loan of up to UGX 2,000,000 to invest in education and health.
- 50% of the interest accrued from the fixed deposits and any other investments made using the collections will be returned to the individual members.
- Through this partnership with the bank, individuals will access loans of between Ushs.500,000 to Ushs.30,000,000 geared towards driving entrepreneurship and business investments.
- There are some insurance schemes that members will benefit from.
Qn: Tell us more about these insurance schemes
Individual members will be able to benefit from two health insurance schemes – a basic package where a member who pays an insurance premium of Ushs. 50,000 per annum and gets cover worth Ushs. 2,000,000 and a classic package where a member pays Ushs.150,000 and gets a cover worth Shs.3,000,000. There are also other insurance packages for members willing to pay a higher premiums.
Qn: What is Housing Finance Bank’s contribution to this partnership?
As a bank, our purpose is to drive home ownership and financial independence. There are a number of value propositions that Housing Finance Bank is bringing to the partnership:
- We are providing a quick and safe collection platform for all member contributions. This has also been enabled via agency banking to increase convenience. A church member registers and gets a unique number through which they start saving at the bank’s branches or nearest agent.
- The funds are then aggregated and saved on a fixed deposit account from where the members stand to benefit from the return.
- We have put in place a system that is able to identify the members through a unique number and help the church track how much the members have paid. Members will be able to receive a message informing them of their payments and their balance, as and when they transact.
Qn: Is this program open to the general public?
What is required is for all participating members to be part of a Parish and Diocese. I believe this should be open to the Anglican community as well as all well-wishers.
As Housing Finance Bank, we have a variety of products that can be tailored to suit the financial needs of any individual or group of individuals with a wide range of aspirations. These include among other things, loans, fixed deposit schemes, various saving solutions and trade support offerings.
