Bank Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa : The Case of Uganda Commercial Bank

Clarke, George R.G. ; Cull, Robert ; Fuchs, Michael

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES;    ACCESS TO LOANS;    AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES;    AGRICULTURAL LOANS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4407
RP-ID  :  WPS4407

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Previous empirical analyses have foundthat bank privatizations are more successful when thegovernment fully relinquishes control, when the bank isprivatized to a strategic investor, and when foreign-ownedbanks are allowed to participate in the bidding.Theprivatization of Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB) to the SouthAfrican bank Stanbic met all these criteria, suggesting thatit is a likely candidate for success.But other featuressuggest reasons for caution:UCB dominated the Ugandanbanking sector prior to privatization and the institutionalenvironment in Uganda was less favorable than in many of themiddle-income countries looked at in earlier empiricalstudies.Despite these concerns, the privatization appearsto have been relatively successful.The portfolio of theprivatized bank, which was cleaned prior to sale, remainsrelatively strong and profitability and credit growth arenow on par with other Ugandan banks.Though marketsegmentation remains a concern since Stanbic faces little orno direct competition in many remote areas, some earlyresults suggest that access to credit has improved for somehard-to-serve groups.