Opportunity Bank appoints microfinance and financial inclusion expert, Robert Ongodia as its Managing Director; Tineyi Mawocha elevated to Regional Director, Africa

Opportunity Bank has appointed microfinance and financial inclusion expert, Robert Ongodia as its new Managing Director for Uganda, to replace Tineyi Mawocha. Mr. Mawocha, remains the Regional Director, Africa, a role he has playing concurrently since July 2019. Phillip Karugaba, the bank’s Board Chairman confirmed the appointment to CEO East Africa Magazine. “Yes, Robert Ongodia is our new Managing Director. Tineyi Mawocha, his predecessor, has been elevated to a regional position based in Kampala,” he said. Ongodia has been the Senior Director, Global Investments for Accion Global Investments, a global non-profit committed to creating a financially inclusive world with key investments in microfinance and fintech. Accion, through its subsidiary, Accion Africa-Asia Investment Company, is the largest shareholder in UGAFODE Microfinance Limited and by that Ongodia has also been a Non-Executive Director for UGAFODE. Before Accion, Ongodia, between April 2010-December 2014 was the Investment Manager in charge of Africa at MicroVest Capital Management LLC, an asset management firm that invests in responsible financial institutions that serve the un- and under-banked populations in developing markets. Ongodia has also sat on the board of Kenyan microlender, Musoni Kenya, between April 2012 and December 2014. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer for FINCA Microfinance in Tanzania and Uganda between October 2003 and November 2006. From October 2003-June 2004, he taught International Trade and Economics at Uganda’s Makerere University and before that, he was between September 1999 to March 2004 a Banks Examiner at Bank of Uganda. Before the Central Bank, he, between 1996 to 1999, was the head of Loans at Centenary Bank. He holds a BSc, Economics from Makerere University and a Master of Public Administration in Economic Policy Management from the Columbia University, New York. He has also attended the Harvard Business Schools' Executive Leadership Programme in Inclusive Finance. Tineyi Mawocha has led Opportunity Bank from 2016 when it was still a Microfinance Deposit-taking Institution (MDI) through its rebranding in 2018 to eventually securing a tier-1 commercial banking license late 2019. In his 4-year reign, the bank's assets grew by 120 percent from UGX75 billion in 2016 to UGX165 billion at the end of 2019, thanks to an aggressive growth in deposits- from UGX26 billion to UGX87 billion in the same period. Lending grew 160 percent from UGX42 billion to UGX109 billion and as a result, net profit grew from UGX1.4 billion to UGX4.4 billion in 2018, but declined in 2019 to UGX2.5 billion due to costs associated with becoming a commercial bank. Opportunity Bank is majority-owned by MyBucks SA, a fintech company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (49 percent). Other shareholders include: Opportunity Transformational Inc (39 percent), Faulu Trust (7.14 percent), and Opportunity International Canada (6.06 percent).