The Executive Communities East African team spent a week in Kampala meeting the country’s leading CFOs and CIOs – and hosted the second round of summits in-country this year.
Executive Communities closed out its 2026 Ugandan calendar with a week in Kampala, the City of Seven Hills. Alongside in-person meetings with the country’s CFOs and CIOs, the team hosted two summits: one where finance chiefs explored the growing role of ESG in finance strategy, and another where technology leaders unpacked what it takes to lead through shifting business expectations and a faster technology cycle.
"The summits are a great place for C-suite executives to connect with their peers and exchange ideas. They also allow executives to build meaningful relationships with other leaders, and in this way, strengthen their professional networks. Some executives have come back to us to share that they found new career opportunities through connections they made at our events, while others have met people they went on to hire. That is a strong indication of the practical value these events can create beyond the conversations in the room," says Muriel Adhiambo, editor-in-chief of East Africa.
“Next year we will have our full C-suite Summits, with the CHRO East Africa Uganda chapter launch taking place in April 2027. There has already been a lot of buzz around the Kenya chapter, which shows there is a real appetite for this across the region. We are excited to bring the CHRO East Africa community to Uganda and build on that momentum.”
CFO East Africa Sustainability Summit
More than 100 finance chiefs gathered at the Four Points by Sheraton Kampala on 13 August for CFO East Africa’s annual sustainability summit.
Delegates rated their readiness for the incoming IFRS S1 and S2 sustainability reporting standards, and the results set the tone for the discussions that followed.
Speakers and panellists included Sanlam General Insurance CFO Doreen Kyomugisha; Old Mutual Investment Group CFO John Ggolooba; Stanbic Bank Uganda CEO Mumba Kalifungwa and Stanbic Bank Uganda chief finance and value officer Ronald Makata.
“Sustainability in its essence is not a project. It is not a side gig. It has become part and parcel of the organisation and how we think,” said Ronald.
Delegates then broke into smaller groups to discuss ESG initiatives in their own organisations before reporting back in a roundtable session. The consensus was clear: the CFO role has changed, and finance leaders must be at the heart of ESG strategy.
Read more about the summit.
CIO of the Future Summit
The next day, CITO East Africa's CIO of the Future Summit brought Uganda’s technology leaders to the same venue.
Speakers and panellists included MTN Uganda CIO Albert Gitta; Ecobank Uganda CISO Catherine Bwire; Stanbic Bank Uganda head of information security Diana Agaba; Old Mutual country head of information technology Geoffrey Andima; Tropical Bank Uganda head of business technology Ivas Kwikiriza; and Airtel Money Uganda CIO Sulaiman Mugalasi.
Conversations centred on the shifting expectations placed on technology leaders, and the need to look beyond systems to the wider business forces shaping their organisations.
“CEOs and heads of business don’t want to hear about your servers. They want to understand what value you bring, so we have to evolve from being support functions and become business enablers,” said Sulaiman.
Read more about the summit.