When Jagdish Srivastava evaluates a banking partner, he’s not just looking at interest rates.
As a former international banker himself, he knows the difference between an institution that processes transactions and one that moves with a business.
That distinction is now shaping a growing relationship between Equity Bank Uganda and Modern Group of Companies, one of Uganda’s diversified conglomerates with interests spanning manufacturing, building materials and agro-processing.
For a group operating across multiple sectors and markets, financial decisions rarely wait for convenient timing. Srivastava, Modern Group’s chief executive officer, said it was Equity’s ground team that tipped the scales.
“What stands out most is the responsiveness of Equity’s ground team. They are proactive, approachable and quick to address matters as they arise,” he said.
That local presence, he added, mattered as much as the bank’s balance sheet.
“Partnering with a major bank like Equity provides the scale, stability and institutional support needed to unlock long-term business growth,” Srivastava said.
“Equity Bank’s team approaches business with a highly positive, solution-oriented mindset, and as our internal authorization processes are finalized, we look forward to deepening this partnership across multiple financing areas.”
For Equity, the relationship is a marquee win in a sector it has been courting aggressively.
“Modern Group represents a cornerstone relationship for our bank,” said Ronald Nakhasanga, Equity Bank’s regional manager for the Eastern Region.
“Given their expansive footprint across diverse sectors — from manufacturing and building materials to agro-processing — the potential for shared growth is immense. Our commitment goes beyond traditional corporate banking; we are strategically positioned to support their full ecosystem, driving value across their entire operational footprint.”
What’s currently in place is a single financing facility. What both sides describe, though, is something bigger: a bank aligning itself with a conglomerate’s expansion across Uganda and the wider East African market, deal by deal, sector by sector.
In an industrial economy as competitive as Uganda’s, that may be the real currency — not just who can lend, but who shows up.
