Board of Directors

Dr. James Wilson Muwanga is a Ugandan Economist and one of the most respected academicians of the land. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) in Economics from Utah State University in Utah, USA. Dr. Muwanga has served as Chairman Board of Directors of one of the regulated commercial banks in the country, member of Advisory Steering Committees of various financial institutions, consultant of specialized Government Ministries and Projects and has also served as Consultant for the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services.

He brings to the Board over 10 years of business and professional experience and a dynamic balance between corporate, consulting and academics.

Mr. Ashraf Savani is the immediate former chairman of African Banking Corporation Ltd. He has 50 years of experience in the banking industry and is the founding Managing Director of ABC Bank having started it in 1984 first as a financial institution before converting it to a fully-fledged bank in 1994. He started his banking career in 1964 with Habib Bank Ltd rising to the position of Vice President at Habib Bank A.G. Zurich in 1984, when he left to form Consolidated Finance Company now known as African Banking Corporation Ltd.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and a Diploma in Banking. In 2012, he was awarded the Life Time Achievement Award in Banking during the Think Business Banking Awards.

Mr. Kemal Lalani is an international businessman with over 30 years of experience in multiple business ventures in five countries including Pakistan, Dubai, Congo, Kenya and Uganda. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Capital Finance Company for 15 years. He has also served on the Aga Khan Planning Board and has vast understanding of the Ugandan market.

Mr. Shamaz Savani has a B.Com in Finance and a B.A. in Economics; both from McMaster University, Canada and an MBA from the University of Surrey in UK. He joined ABC Bank in 1997 and was appointed in 2006 as the Chief Executive Officer before rising to the rank of Group Managing Director of ABC Group He is responsible for strategy formulation, policy-making including expansion, innovation and growth for ABC Group which comprises ABC Bank, ABC Capital Limited, ABC Insurance Brokers Limited and ABC Capital Bank Limited (Uganda).

In the latter role, he has spearheaded and acted as chief sponsor of the Centralized Banking System implementation with ABC Bank being among the first banks to adopt the one bank one branch concept. Under his leadership, ABC Bank was awarded the ISO Certification. The Bank has also received several awards in different categories under his leadership.

Mr. Haider Daudani has 38 years of experience in the banking industry. He was the CEO of Diamond Trust since 1991, overseeing its conversion into a fully-fledged bank in 1995.

He later joined Capital Finance Corporation Limited as Managing Director in 1997, also driving its conversion into a fully-fledged commercial bank in 2010, making him the founding Managing Director of ABC Capital Bank.

He holds the post of Vice Chairman of the Forex Bureau Association which he was a founding member of and instrumental in its establishment.

Mr. Natarajan joins ABC Bank Group to carry on the execution of the bank’s Strategic Plan, and will lead the bank to the next level in terms of products, profits, profile, processes and people efficiency. He will lead the growth of ABC Bank into a Pan African bank, with strong relations with all stakeholders, including as a caring employer. Mr. Natarajan has extensive banking experience gained working with leading banks in India, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

For over 30 years he has worked for the State Bank of India both in Hong Kong and India, in various capacities including as Branch Manager, Divisional Manager of Market Segment; Assistant General Manager (Currency Operations) & Chief Manager (Funds); Vice President (Credit & Operations) & Vice President (Operations)/ Alternative CEO, among other key positions which have equipped him with extensive experience. He was also the President Director (CEO) of Bank ICB Bumiputera, a retail bank in Indonesia, and has also worked as an independent strategy consultant. Mr. Natarajan holds a BSC and a MSC, Chemistry from the University of Delhi, India.

Mr. Ogwal Walter Odongo is an ex-banker, certified credit risk manager, business consultant and growth finance professional, with experience in Eastern Africa and Investment decisions across Africa and MENA. He has undertaken business process engineering and had successful turnarounds in both Senior and Executive level.

He has delivered on consultancies in fields straddling banking and finance, private sector development strategy and institutional development (OD) delivering readily accepted outcomes as per schedules, technical and finance plans. Ogwal possesses benefits of Board representation in both private and public sector institutions. Currently, he is operationalizing a sector-focused first time fund investing in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Djibouti)

Mr. Jesse Timbwa is a seasoned banker with over 30years of experience. He holds a bachelor of Commerce. Jesse joined ABC Group in 2000 from KCB Group. Prior to being appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of ABC Capital Bank, Jesse had worked with ABC Kenya as the head of Credit and Legal. He also served as the Vice Chairman of Credit Committee of Kenya Bankers Association

Overtime, Jesse has attained vast experience in strategic planning and implementation as well as Board representation.

Chris Kabagambe Joined the Board of ABC Capital Bank Ltd. in December 2023 with a wealth of banking experience and strength in strategic Leadership & Corporate Governance.

He is very Fluent in digital financial services with FinTech exposure and has a full outlook in Banking & Payments business.

Chris is the immediate former Uganda, Country MD/CEO of Kuda Financial Services ltd, a startup Digital-only Neo-bank.

He was as well the Board Chairman of Mcash Uganda Ltd, which is a leading FinTech that works with businesses to provide financial solutions in East Africa offering them a Virtual Wallet, a Digital Payments platform and an Agency Banking interface.

Chris is also a former Country MD/CEO of Top Finance Bank (Now Salam Bank) Uganda.

Chris has undertaken several consulting assignments in the banking sector especially 360-degree Institutional Reviews for several banks and African Development Bank (AfDB) funded country diagnostics for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) for competitiveness and job creation in Uganda.

He has also worked in senior roles as follows.

- Housing Finance Bank, as a Head of Operations, Head of Commercial Banking, & Head of Retail Banking
- KCB Bank (U) Ltd, as Head of Retail Banking
- DFCU Bank Ltd., as Head of Retail Banking & as a Branch Manager
- Centenary Bank, as a Head of Branch Loans Unit, a Corporate Credit Analyst, & as a Micro-Finance Loans Officer.

He has participated in several international conferences as a speaker and panelist in Nairobi, Cape town, Johannesburg, Dubai and Hong Kong mostly speaking about business strategies & how to do retail banking in a digital era.

Chris has been to many universities & done a number of post graduate leadership trainings as follows. 

•    MBA (University of Leicester, in the UK),
•    B.Sc. Agricultural Economics (Makerere University),
•    Banking Management (Uganda Martyrs University)
•    Executive Leadership Program (by the CEO-Forum and Strathmore Business School).
•    CEO Apprenticeship Program (CAP) (by the CEO-Forum and Strathmore Business School). 
•    Retail Banking Leadership Programme (The Asian Banker)

Professional Membership

•    Member of the League of East African Directors (LEAD),
•    Member of the CEO Apprenticeship Program (CAP) run by the CEO-Forum.
•    Member of the Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda (ICGU).
•    Member of The Africa List of mentored Corporate Leaders run by the CDC (Commonwealth
Development Corporation).
•    Member of Uganda Agriculture Economics Association and,
•    Member of The Boardroom Masterclass (BRMC) run by Japheth Katto Consult Ltd, Ligomarc Advocates, Steadman Global and Covae Consulting.

Social & Wellness Club Membership

•    Member of Kampala Club Ltd.
•    Uganda Golf Club.
•    Toro Golf Club.
•    Kampala Maisha Gym & Spa.

She is a Finance and Agriculture professional with 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry.

· She is an Accredited SME consultant (March 2018) with the Association of Accredited Small Business Consultant (AASBC).

· She is an Investment committee Member for National Social Security Fund Hi-Innovator programme since 2020

· Ms. Arigye holds a MSc. Financial Management (2000) from SOAS, University of London and BSc. Agriculture (Hons.)  from Makerere University , Kampala, Uganda (Major: Economics/Management)

· She has been a substantive representative of GroFin in Uganda, effectively executing brand and customer strategies in the country.

· She has been a senior Credit Manager, Dfcu Bank and also worked as a Business support manager

· She has been a Field officer/District Coffee Liaison Officer, Research and Development Department Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA)

Board Representation

She is also currently a Non-executive Director/secretary NAMELA Healthcare

Been Director GroFin SGB Uganda Ltd (GroFin is a specialist, impact driven SME financier)

Non – executive member –SHONA Capital Ltd (East African domiciled angel capital fund investing primarily in SMEs)

Msc.IT, FCCA, ITIL v.3, Oracle Certified, BCom (Acc+IT)

He has Over 27 years’ experience in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry, 20 of which implementing and supporting the rollout of Oracle EBS based Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) in government, telecom, and banking sectors. About 15 years supporting process reforms in Government Agencies, Private Sector, and across International Donor Agencies. 8 years at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Planning spearheading and supporting the automation of Government Public Financial Management Processes (PFM) based on the Oracle R12 ERP platform, 5 years implementing and rolling out PFM reforms based on the Oracle EBS platform across the Nigerian States, West Africa under the World Bank Group.

His experience and expertise cut across the key sectors of the economy; Government, Telecommunication, Finance and Banking. 

In-depth understanding of the technological landscape and extensive knowledge of contemporary information technology and digital innovations and trends

Academic & Professional Credentials

· University of Newcastle, Australia Masters of Science, Information Technology Dec 2004 (Software Engineering).

· ACCA Global, Glasgow, UK Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified August 2003 Accountants (FCCA).

· Makerere University, Kampala, Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and June 1997 Uganda Information Technology), Honors, Upper Second Clas

· Oracle University, Bangalore, India Certified Expert Specialist, Oracle E-Business October 2013 Suite R12

· Oracle University, Bangalore, India Oracle e-Business Suite 11i Functional August 2008

· Examination Institute for Information ITIL® (IT Infrastructure Library) Ver.3 June 2008 Science (EXIN), South Africa Certification

· World Bank e-Learning Certified Cyber security professional May 2019

· National Institute of Bank Management Certificate of Attendance - Program for IT Heads Sept 2007

Professional Membership

· Fellow - Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), UK

· Member - The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda - ICPAU