Equity Bank, Tian Tang Partnership Targets Wider Enterprise Growth Around Mbale Industrial Park

August 19, 2026 in Business, Companies, Financial Services, Trade & Industry by Editor

Equity Bank and Tian Tang Group are targeting wider enterprise growth around Mbale Industrial Park by combining business financing with financial literacy and management support.

 

The growth of the Sino-Uganda Mbale Industrial Park is creating a wider financing opportunity for manufacturers, suppliers and service businesses around the industrial hub, following a partnership between Equity Bank Uganda and Tian Tang Group.

The partnership is designed to improve access to finance for businesses operating within the industrial ecosystem while strengthening the financial and management capabilities needed to sustain expansion.

Tian Tang Group has established a manufacturing ecosystem supporting more than 2,000 enterprises and providing employment to about 15,000 Ugandans. Equity Bank will provide tailored financial solutions to businesses linked to the ecosystem, including working capital, business loans and corporate banking services.

The financing is expected to support enterprises seeking to increase production, acquire machinery and meet day-to-day operational requirements as manufacturing activity expands.

For Uganda’s industrialisation agenda, the significance of the partnership extends beyond the factories located within the park.

A growing manufacturing base creates demand for local suppliers, transport and logistics operators, construction companies, food businesses, traders and other service providers. Improving their access to finance could therefore help spread the economic impact of industrial investment across the surrounding economy.

The partnership also includes a financial capability component, with Equity Bank supporting entrepreneurs and workers through training in financial literacy and business management.

The training will cover areas including cash-flow management, bookkeeping, financial discipline and corporate governance.

For smaller businesses, better financial records and stronger management systems can be important in moving from informal or relationship-based financing towards formal credit. Building credible financial histories can improve their ability to demonstrate capacity to lenders and finance further expansion.

Laurent Zhang, Administrative Manager at Tian Tang Group, said stronger collaboration between industrial enterprises and financial institutions would be important to sustaining growth.

“By strengthening this relationship, we can unlock the financial solutions needed to accelerate enterprise development and drive economic transformation,” he said.

Equity Bank Uganda Managing Director Gift Shoko said the initiative reflects the bank’s wider focus on linking financial services with Uganda’s industrial and socio-economic development.

“This initiative is dedicated to transforming lives within the local community, which directly aligns with our core mission to champion socio-economic prosperity and sustainable development,” Shoko said.

Equity Bank brings an extensive distribution network to the partnership, with more than 50 branches, over 9,000 agency banking outlets and more than 2,000 merchants across Uganda.

The scale of that network could be particularly relevant to enterprises outside the industrial park itself, allowing businesses participating in the wider value chain to access financial services closer to where they operate.

The partnership points to a broader challenge for Uganda’s industrialisation: ensuring that investment in industrial parks generates stronger domestic business linkages rather than remaining concentrated within individual factories.

As manufacturing capacity grows in Mbale, the ability of local enterprises to supply inputs, provide services, move goods and meet the consumption needs generated by industrial employment will determine how widely the benefits of the park are distributed.

For Mbale and the surrounding communities, the Equity-Tian Tang collaboration therefore offers a model in which industrial investment is matched by enterprise finance and financial capability, potentially extending the economic footprint of the industrial park well beyond its factory gates.