Pride Bank has appointed Beatrice Lugalambi, a banker with more than 30 years of experience in Uganda’s financial sector, as executive director as the lender strengthens its leadership to support its transition into mainstream banking.
Lugalambi has built her career across several financial institutions, including Centenary Bank, Barclays Bank Uganda and Bank of Africa, with experience in business development, corporate banking, marketing, customer experience and institutional leadership.
At Centenary Bank, she held several senior management positions, including general manager for corporate communications and marketing, and general manager for business development and marketing.
Her appointment comes as Pride Bank consolidates its transformation from a microfinance institution into a broader financial services provider.
The Bank of Uganda granted Pride Microfinance a Tier II credit institution licence on November 26, 2024, paving the way for its rebranding as Pride Bank Limited on April 29, 2025.
The upgrade expanded the institution’s capacity to mobilise deposits and offer a wider range of financial products to individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses.
Speaking during the launch of the bank’s new identity, Mackay Aomu, director of the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Department at the Bank of Uganda, said Pride was only the second institution in Uganda to transition from Tier III to Tier II status, after Equity Bank.
In June 2025, the lender introduced several products and services targeting individuals and businesses, including SME loans, home improvement loans, mortgages, foreign exchange services and trade finance.
Pride Bank managing director Veronicah Gladys Namagembe said Lugalambi’s experience would be important in driving the institution’s next phase of growth.
“Beatrice joins us at a particularly exciting time when we have built a strong foundation in financial inclusion, earned the trust of communities across Uganda and taken important steps towards becoming a more competitive and diversified financial institution,” Namagembe said.
“Our next chapter calls for experienced leadership that can translate this foundation into greater value for our customers and sustainable growth for the bank,” she added.
Namagembe said Lugalambi brings a strong understanding of the market, commercial experience and the ability to build relationships that support business growth.
Lugalambi holds a Master of Business Administration from the Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute (ESAMI), a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from Uganda Management Institute and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Makerere University.
Beyond banking, she is involved in community service and mentorship, including leadership roles in Rotary.
Pride Microfinance was established in 1995 before the Ugandan government acquired full ownership in 2003. It became a Tier III microfinance deposit-taking institution in 2005.
The bank says it intends to build on its financial inclusion foundation while expanding access to a wider range of financial services across Uganda.
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