Fabian Kasi Centenary Bank Managing Director to exit the Bank in july after 16 years at the helm of the financal institution.
Centenary Bank is Uganda’s leading commercial microfinance bank. Established in 1983, it serves approximately 3 million customers with a strong focus on financial inclusion, rural development, and empowering female borrowers and microenterprises
In a media interface Kasi said he is happy leaving behind a legacy defined by rapid growth, digital transformation, financial inclusion and institutional trust.
Kasi attributed the bank’s success to teamwork, customer trust, strong partnerships and a deliberate focus on serving communities across Uganda.
“I’m part of this team. I’m leading this team to help this bank do what it has done,” Kasi said, while thanking customers, regulators, shareholders, partners and staff for supporting the bank’s journey.
Kasi joined Centenary Bank in 2010, when Centenary Bank was largely known for serving farmers and rural communities but faced operational challenges, including long customer queues and limited digital banking infrastructure.
Over the years, the bank invested heavily in technology and alternative delivery channels, introducing mobile banking, internet banking and one of the country’s largest agency banking networks.
“We now have very robust systems of service delivery. People can use their phones, internet banking is available, and we have over 9,000 agents across the country,” Kasi said.
The bank’s footprint also expanded significantly, growing from 37 branches in 2009 to 82 branches nationwide.
Under Kasi’s leadership, Centenary Bank has recorded remarkable growth across key performance indicators.Loan disbursements grew from approximately Shs400 billion to more than Shs4.5 trillion in outstanding credit, while customer deposits increased from about Shs700 billion to nearly Shs6 trillion.
Customer numbers has also surged as the bank deepened its reach into communities traditionally excluded from formal financial services.
Despite the impressive financial growth, Kasi believes the bank’s greatest achievement has been earning and maintaining public trust.
“The only commodity we sell to the public is trust. If trust is eroded even for a single day, then we lose the plot,” he said.
According to Kasi, the confidence customers place in the bank has been central to every milestone achieved over the past 16 years.
He credited this trust to transparency, accountability and a commitment to always communicate facts, even in difficult situations.
“There is nothing more important than telling people the truth. Once you tell them the facts, they trust you,” he noted.
He emphasised the importance of earning trust through competence, integrity and results.
“You need to project competence. You need integrity. You need to be result-oriented. Those things determine whether people trust you or not,” he explained.
Centenary Bank now employs approximately 3,400 staff, making it one of Uganda’s largest private sector employers.
Beyond banking, Kasi highlighted Centenary Bank’s long-standing partnership with Rotary Uganda in supporting cancer awareness and treatment initiatives.
The bank adopted cancer awareness as one of its key Corporate Social Responsibility pillars and has supported the Rotary Cancer Run for 15 years.
“If there is something we can do to help people affected by cancer, then it is the right thing to do,” Kasi said.
He noted that the partnership has helped raise awareness about early cancer detection while supporting treatment infrastructure.
The bank is currently implementing a new core banking system worth approximately $20 million expected to enhance service delivery significantly.
It is also preparing to launch a new banking wallet that will allow customers and non-customers alike to access a range of financial services through digital channels.
“We have invested heavily in technology, and there are many more innovations coming,” he said.
Beyond banking, the broader Centenary Group now includes a technology company, a foundation, an asset management company and plans for insurance and other financial services ventures.
