The CEO’s in waiting across Uganda’s corporate scene

By Our Reporter

The appointment of Patrick Mweheire as Stanbic Bank Uganda CEO has brought back the debate of whether there are any Ugandans out there with the potential of joining his club. The CEO Magazine has previously accurately predicted that Keith Kalyegira and Aggie Konde Asiimwe could be CEO’s. Keith Kalyegira is now CEO of the Capital Markets Authority whereas Aggie Konde is General Manager NTV Uganda.

And the nominees are:

Anthony Kituuka

Anthony has been on our list before and since 2012, he has made progress in the banking sector. Kituuka has since 2012 finished his MBA Oil and Gas Management from the University of Middlesex. And as soon as he was done, he got a promotion. After serving for close to six years as KCB’s head of corporate banking in Uganda he moved to Kenya. In 2014, he became Head of Global Corporates KCB Group. It only took him nine months and he was off to Equity Bank as an Executive Director, Regional Subsidiaries. From a Customer Service Manager at Hima Cement in 2006, he now works under Equity Banks Group CEO James Mwangi. As Executive Director, he oversees operations in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Sudan.
This is a man on a mission. He is inching closer to the table of men. It is only a matter of time that he earns his place as CEO. He is now exposed to a market that is more than just Uganda.

Anne Aliker

Anne is another flamboyant CEO in waiting who has been mostly known for her investment banking prowess. She is an Executive and Head of Investment Banking at CFC Stanbic Bank in Nairobi. She has been in this role for the last eight years, leading a team in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Mauritius and South Sudan. Before the entry of Patrick Mweheire at Stanbic Bank, she had been widely tipped to replace Philip Odera. She didn’t but her prospects are not that badly off.
Before moving to Nairobi in 2008, she had been a Director at Stanbic Bank Uganda. At the same time, she was the head of corporate and investment banking at the same bank. Prior to joining Stanbic Bank, she was head of corporate banking at Citi Bank Uganda.
She is a CEO in waiting. In fact it is long overdue. Could she be moving to Head the Corporate Investment Banking & Regional Investment Banking Coverage at the Standard Bank Group? This is a role Mweheire previously held.

Sarah Arapta

She is yet another investment banker at Uganda’s largest bank, Stanbic Bank. Arapta is currently the Head of Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank Uganda. She has been doing the nitty-gritty of corporate transactions at Stanbic Bank Uganda. A tall dark skinned lady, Arapta has been structuring corporate investments for various companies and one of the most recent is Kakira Sugar’s Ushs30bn medium term note. This is a first for a non-banking institution in Uganda and has been structured with the help of Arapta. She also handles clients like British American Tobacco and Umeme among others.
If following in the footsteps of her predecessors is anything to go by, then Arapta is on a path that should lead her to the very top.

Agnes Mayanja

Agnes is currently the Head of Institutional and Development at Dfcu Bank. She stepped in to replace Wilbrod Owor, currently the acting CEO UBA Uganda. Mayanja has earned her place in the top management at Dfcu bank after having previously served as Head of Risk at the same institution. She joined Dfcu in 1998 as Manager Leasing and rose to Manager Credit Control and Business Support Manager respectively. On Dfcu’s top management team, she is one of two women; the other one being Agnes Isharaza Tibayeta, Head of Legal. Notably, on the same management team, she is the third longest serving member after Juma Kisaame, the CEO and Chris Sserunkuma the Head of Internal Audit. She has also served on the Governing Council of the Uganda Securities Exchange.

Christopher Birungi Kabagambe

Christopher is a career banker. After completing his first degree in 1998, he joined Centenary Bank. By the time he left in 2003, he was the head of the branch loans section. For five years, he was the Business Development Manager at Dfcu Bank. Armed with an MBA from Leicester University, he joined KCB Bank to become the first Head of Retail Banking when the bank opened its doors in Uganda. He remained in this role for four years until he was courted by Housing Finance to serve in the same role.
In 2014, he was appointed Head of the Commercial Banking Division at Housing Finance Bank. In this role he supervises at least four sections among them treasury, retail banking, corporate banking, mortgages and development finance.
Kabagambe is primed for the CEO role for now, whether at Housing Finance Bank or any other banking institution.

Magulu Bernard Robinson

Magulu is a seasoned accountant and now banker. Magulu is now an Executive Director Finanace and Administration at Orient Bank Uganda. He was part of the team that developed the strategy to set-up the UBA Group Subsidiary. At the time he joined UBA, he had been in London. At UBA he held two portfolios. He was the Chief Finance Officer and Strategist. Prior to his stint at UBA, he had worked with Bank of Uganda and Centenary Bank. He would later try out the aviation sector when he moved to London as the British Airways Group strategist for East Africa.
With his strength in strategy, he is primed for a top CEO position for an institution looking to tap his accounting and banking prowess.