The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | FMO, the Netherlands’ development bank, has extended a $20million senior unsecured facility to I&M Bank Uganda Limited to expand lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a segment widely seen as vital to Uganda’s economic growth but often constrained by limited access to finance.
The financing package begins with an initial $10m tranche and will be directed largely toward underserved businesses, including women-owned enterprises, agricultural ventures and entrepreneurs without formal banking relationships.
The agreement was announced at the bank’s headquarters at Kingdom Kampala, in the presence of officials from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uganda, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Ministry of Finance.
The investment aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on decent work and reducing inequality, and carries FMO’s “Reducing Inequalities” investment label.
I&M Bank CEO, Robin Bairstow, said SMEs sit at the centre of the bank’s growth strategy and Uganda’s economic transformation.
The lender, he added, has strengthened its balance sheet and invested in digital platforms to broaden financing, training and financial literacy support for entrepreneurs countrywide.
