Kampala, 15^th September 2025

Centenary Bank has contributed UGX 86 million to the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) for the Weyonje campaign and the upcoming Kampala City Festival.

The Kampala City Festival is one of the country’s most significant cultural and social events, drawing thousands of Ugandans and international visitors. The festival offers a platform to display Kampala’s vibrancy through music, art, dance, and food, while also creating opportunities for local entrepreneurs and businesses to flourish.

The bank’s contribution highlights its commitment to community development and environmental sustainability in Kampala, a city it has served for over 40 years.

While announcing the contribution, Centenary Bank Executive Director Joseph Balikuddembe said that for 40 years, the bank has worked to transform lives through financial services and initiatives that uplift communities. That is why the bank dedicates 2% of the previous year’s profit to corporate social investment for initiatives like health, education, waste management, environmental conservation, and other community projects every year.

As a bank, we are proud to celebrate Kampala, its culture, innovation, and sustainability with a total of UGX 86 million; UGX 50 million for the city festival and UGX 36 million for the Weyonje campaign. Through this contribution, we hope to support the city’s symbol of unity, creative expression, and economic development as it looks towards the future,” he said.

“We are particularly excited to once again be part of the vibrant Kampala City Festival after an 8-year hiatus. Kampala and Uganda as a whole are vibrant, as demonstrated over time by the ways we come together to celebrate our wins and find solutions to pressing challenges,” Balikuddembe added.

A 2023/24 report from the Office of the Auditor General highlighted the low waste disposal rates over three years from 2021 to 2024. Only 37% of the over 4 million tons of generated solid waste was collected and disposed of. Cities collected and disposed of 34.4% of their waste, while municipalities managed 50%. This underscores the need for partnership and collaboration to close gaps and achieve a cleaner and healthier country.

 “We recognize that a thriving city is key to economic growth, and addressing challenges like waste management is central to creating an environment where businesses and people can prosper,” Balikuddembe added.

Centenary Bank is already implementing initiatives aligned with the sustainability arm of the festival through our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda. We have converted 10 of our branches from relying on hydro power and generators to full use of solar energy. We offer water and sanitation loans, green loans, and solar loans. Additionally, we have donated over 80 waste bins for proper waste management, organized community clean-ups, donated tanks, dug boreholes, reduced plastic use within our branches, planted over 100,000 trees in the past two years, and are beginning an initiative to separate waste in our branches.

On the social front, the bank has actively participated in activities such as the cancer run, medical camps across the country, donations of computers to support information technology advancement in schools, conducting financial literacy programs for various sectors, construction projects, and many other community initiatives.