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Anthony Kituuka, 47, has been appointed the Managing Director, of Equity Bank Uganda, pending approval by the Bank of Uganda, the financial services regulator.
An aggressively passionate and hands-on banker, Kituuka has been the Executive Director, at the bank since April 2016. In that role, he has effectively been the bank’s No.2 and a core part of the bank’s leadership team. He has also been sitting on the bank’s board.
CEO East Africa Magazine, understand Samuel Kirubi, the outgoing Managing Director has been recalled to Group, to take up a Group Chief Operating Officer role at Equity Group Holdings Limited.
Kituuka, worked closely with Samuel Kirubi, the outgoing Managing Director, who joined the bank in mid-2016, to transform Equity Bank’s route-to-market and in the process, make significant market share wins across all major business fundamentals.
During the time Kituuka was Executive Director, the bank’s deposits grew 4.8 times- a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.7%, from UGX480.4 billion in 2016 to UGX2.29 trillion at the end of 2021. Lending has grown by 4.8 times, at a CAGR of 30.1% from UGX319 billion to UGX1.54 trillion. Assets grew 4.4 times at a CAGR of 27.9% from UGX642.8 billion to UGX2.82 trillion. Profitability too grew phenomenally; by 5.1 times, from UGX17 billion to UGX86 billion at the end of 2016.
As of the end of December 2021, the duo also moved Equity Bank from the ninth largest by deposits to the fifth; ninth largest by lending to the third largest; 12th-largest by assets to the 6th-largest, and 10th-largest by profits to the 5th most profitable bank.
Out of the 26 banks in Uganda in 2021, Equity Bank had 8.1% of the industry share of deposits: 9% of lending, 6.8% of assets and 8% of industry profitability.
Due to his top performance across his career, Kituuka twice made it twice to The CEO East Africa Magazine’s CEO-in-waiting lists, the first, in March 2015 and the second time, in July 2020.
Kituuka becomes the latest Ugandan to be appointed to a chief executive role amongst the top 10 banks, most of which are foreign owned, a sign, that Ugandans are coming of age. The other Ugandan chief Executives of the top 10 banks, include Anne Juuko (Stanbic Bank), Fabian Kasi (Centenary Bank), Mathias Katamba (dfcu Bank), Sarah Arapta (Citibank) and Michael Mugabi (Housing Finance Bank).
Mr Mark Ocitti, the Chairman Equity Bank Uganda while welcoming Mr Kituuka to his new role said: “We are confident that Anthony will build on his institutional knowledge and the work together with his immediate predecessor and Equity Uganda staff to push Equity Uganda to the next level of growth.”
“We are confident that his experience in banking and the corporate world will enable him to lead the bank to scale and serve more people in pursuit of our purpose of transforming lives, giving dignity, and expanding opportunities for wealth creation,” he added.
Ocitti also thanked Kirubi for “his leadership that saw Equity Bank Uganda turnaround and grow to be the 6th largest bank in deposits and assets and move from position 16 to the 5th most profitable bank in Uganda in a record seven years.”
15-year banking industry journey
He started his Equity Bank journey in 2014, as the Executive Director, Regional Subsidiaries at the Equity Group, in 2014, reporting to Dr. James Mwangi, the Group Chief Executive. Before that he worked in various senior roles at KCB Bank and Barclays Bank (now Absa Bank) in Uganda and Kenya.
Before joining the banking industry, he, between 1998 and 2006 worked for the LafargeHolcim-owned Hima Cement and at Deloitte & Touche.
Kituuka, holds an MBA (Oil & Gas) from Middlesex University, Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Statistics & Applied Economics from Makerere University, Kampala.
He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Certificate (FCCA). He is also a member of the League of East African Directors, as well as the AIESEC Uganda, Chairman, Board of Advisors. He too is a member of, Board of Directors, The Innovation Village and a tutor at the Strathmore University Business School (SBS).
He has attended several executive management programmes at Harvard Business School, Strathmore Business School, INSEAD, Gordon Institute of Business Science and the Lagos Business School.
Kituuka is a golfer and according to his friends, he is known as a charismatic, affable but no-nonsense lead who is passionate about people, result and impact.
“Equity Bank has a bold vision of transforming Africa through financial inclusion and being the go-to bank. We have already seen their aggressive adoption of technology, agency banking and financial inclusion. I think they have made the right choice. Anthony’s passion for banking, passion for Uganda, combined with vast banking knowledge, is what Equity needs for its next phase in Uganda,” noted one industry analyst.