Equity Group Reports UGX3.1 trillion in Sustainability Investments

November 8, 2026 in Business, Companies, Finance, Land & Agriculture by Editor

Equity Group Managing Director & CEO, Dr. James Mwangi, during the launch of the Equity Group 2025 Sustainability Report on November5

Equity Group invested UGX3.10 trillion in sustainability and social impact initiatives across its regional markets in 2025, including UGX809.12 billion in sustainable finance, as it expanded support for businesses, farmers, climate action and social protection.

 

Equity Group Holdings invested UGX3.10 trillion (USD771 million) in social impact and sustainability initiatives across its regional markets in 2025, with sustainable finance accounting for UGX809.12 billion (USD201 million) of the total.

The figures are contained in the Group’s 2025 Sustainability Report released on November 5, which also details lending to small businesses, agricultural financing, climate-related investments and social protection programmes across its seven banking markets.

The Group recorded more than 47,000 climate-related financing transactions during the year, distributed 75,855 clean-energy products and planted 9.1 million trees, bringing its cumulative tree-planting total to 44.6 million.

Enterprise financing remained a major component of its interventions, with UGX12.57 trillion (USD3.11 billion) disbursed to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The Group also trained 962,924 entrepreneurs, while its local suppliers accounted for 90pc of procurement expenditure, valued at UGX1.48 trillion.

Social protection programmes reached 5.94 million people through cash transfers amounting to UGX5.40 trillion (USD1.34 billion). The report also records UGX1.80 billion in loans extended to 115 refugees, alongside business training for 772 refugees.

Agriculture was another significant area of intervention, with 622,525 small and medium-sized farmers reached through climate-smart financing, capacity building and value-chain support.

Education and skills development programmes supported 60,009 scholarship beneficiaries, including university and technical and vocational education students. The Group also facilitated 9,772 paid internships, while its technology apprenticeship programme secured employment for 415 innovators.

In healthcare, Equity Afya, the Group’s medical franchise network, operated 150 outpatient centres in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, recording more than 4.62 million cumulative patient visits.

Gift Shoko, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Equity Bank Uganda, said the Group’s sustainability framework provides a platform for connecting financial performance with enterprise development and community needs in individual markets.

In Uganda, he said, the bank was focusing on supporting business growth, widening access to financial services and incorporating environmental and social considerations into financing decisions.

Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi said the investments reflected the relationship between commercial performance and sustainable development, with a stronger business providing greater capacity to finance enterprises and community initiatives.

The report also details the Group’s environmental risk management measures, including screening proposed lending for environmental and social risks, climate scenario analysis and stress testing. It is strengthening its sustainability disclosures in preparation for implementing IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 reporting standards.

Alongside the sustainability report, Equity Bank Kenya published its inaugural Sustainable Development Impact Disclosure, setting targets for the composition of its loan book by 2030. These include allocating 65pc of lending to MSMEs, 30pc to food and agriculture and 15pc to manufacturing.

The Kenyan subsidiary’s MSME lending share stood at 56.6pc in 2025, up from 50.1pc in 2023, while lending to women increased to 23.9pc from 18pc over the same period.

Equity Group operates banking subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a representative office in Ethiopia.