UDB’s Ojangole named Africa Banker of the Year

Ojangole is the first Ugandan to receive this Award. Second woman to be named Banker of the Year

Dr. Ojangole was announced at the 19th African Banker Awards ceremony, held Wednesday at the Sofitel Hotel in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, during the African Development Bank Annual Meetings.

The Banker of the Year Award recognises an influential and inspirational leader in the African banking sector whose leadership and vision have driven strong financial performance over the past year, successfully guiding their institution to new heights in the industry.

“The judging committee looked for an individual of outstanding integrity, someone who has managed to articulate a clear vision for his/her institution and who has managed to ensure his/her bank is playing an active role in enhancing socio-economic empowerment and development within the community his/her institution operates in,” the citation for the Award category states,” the citation for the Award category states.

Recipients of this prestigious award exhibit inspirational leadership, demonstrate novel best business practices, expand into new markets, are innovative in terms of new services and adaptation of new technologies for customer convenience and protection mechanisms.

“It gives me great honour to receive this recognition. This Award is a foundation for me to advance Africa’s development agenda, leveraging tailored financial solutions that respond to the needs of Africans in a sustainable manner,” Dr. Ojangole said of the recognition.

She added, “This is a testament of hard work, resilience, consistency and commitment to serve the region.”

For 2025, awardees paid keen attention to leadership in terms of helping empower women (through lending to women-led businesses and by promoting women to positions of leadership) as well as helping to extend credit to the real economy, namely SMEs.

In the category ‘Banker of the Year’, Dr. Ojangole was nominated alongside Abdulmajid Mussa Nsekela, Managing Director of CRDB Bank Plc; Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank; Karim Awad, Group CEO of EFG Holding; Léon Konan Koffi, CEO of AFG Holding; Mukwandi Chibesakunda, CEO of Zanaco Inc.; and Sidi Ould Tah, President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.

Speaking at the ceremony, Omar Ben Yedder, chair of the Awards Committee, identified the private sector and banks as critical to transforming the continent.

“Thomas Sankara said the ones that feed you, rule you. To paraphrase him, we could easily say the ones that finance you, rule you. We need strong African-owned banks. The private sector is the key to unlocking scale, and banks are the fuel for driving Africa forward. African DFIs have won big because of the catalytic role they are playing in transforming the investment landscape as well as working more closely with the African private sector to support SMEs and other asset classes that are underfunded,” said Yedder.

UDB was one of only six among the development finance institutions operating in Africa that were awarded, the others being: Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group), African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Bank of Industry (BOI).

About the African Banker Awards

The African Banker Awards are a landmark annual event for African banking, taking place during the annual meetings of the African Development Bank. Organised by African Banker magazine under the high patronage of the African Development Bank, the African Banker Awards celebrate excellence and best practices in African banking.

L-R-Ivorian-sprinter-and-silver-medallist-Murielle Ahoure Demps, UDB Managing Director, Dr. Patricia Ojangol,e UDB Board Chai,r Geoffrey Kihuguru, and UDB Secretary, Sophie Nakandi

Recognising the personalities and banks that are driving Africa’s rapidly transforming financial sector, the African Banker Awards bring together industry leaders from Africa and the world. They celebrate the achievements of those who are driving growth and development and creating new economic opportunities for citizens and communities all over the continent, and inspire new generations of bankers who are shaping Africa’s future.

On the same night, UDB was awarded by Uganda’s central bank among the best participating financial institutions in the Agricultural Credit Facility (ACF) and Small Business Recovery Fund (SBRF). The Bank won an Award for timely and full payments of loans due. In addition, UDB was recognised for: having disbursed the highest number of loans to projects contributing to value addition; and supporting the growth and development of Uganda’s agricultural sector.

Other UDB recognitions

In 2024, UDB won the Regional Bank of the Year for East Africa in the same Awards. The Bank was recognised for its outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Africa’s banking sector.

In addition, the Bank received a Silver Award (A+ rating) from the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) for its operational efficiency, governance systems, development impact, and overall institutional sustainability.

The African Banker Awards are designed to recognise the reforms, rapid modernisation, consolidation, integration and expansion of Africa’s banking and financial system.

Dr. Ojangole is a professional accountant with over 20 years of experience in Banking and Finance.

She holds a PhD in Development Finance and a Master of Philolosophy in Development Finance (cum laude) both from the University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa. She also holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute (ESAMI), Arusha, Tanzania; a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Degree from Makerere University, Uganda and has completed several leadership and management programs.

Dr. Ojangole is a Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (UK); a member of the Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), as well as the Institute of Internal Auditors Uganda (IIA).

She is a member of the Board of Uganda Development Bank Ltd, Uganda Bankers’ Association, Trademark Africa, Liberty Life Assurance (U) Ltd, Uganda and serves as a Council member at Busitema University Ltd.

Dr. Ojangole has been instrumental in transforming Uganda Development Bank into a modern and efficient institution, playing a catalytic role in the government’s agenda of private sector development and job creation. Under her tenure, UDB’s balance sheet has grown tenfold from UGX 109 billion in 2013 to UGX 1.78 trillion in 2024.

Meanwhile, Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDB) is the country’s national Development Finance Institution (DFI), mandated to accelerate socio-economic development through sustainable financial interventions, debt and equity. UDB also offers non-financial services geared at fostering enterprise investment readiness.

Consistent with this mandate, the Bank supports projects within the private sector that demonstrate the potential to deliver high socio-economic value in terms of job creation, improved production output, tax contribution, and foreign exchange generation, among other outcomes.

UDB aligns its interventions with the strategic objectives under the National Development Plan IV (NDP IV). These objectives include sustainably increasing production, productivity and value addition in agriculture, industry, tourism, ICT and financial services; and enhancing human capital development; and supporting the private sector to drive growth and create jobs.

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