Equity Bank Uganda wants to be the bank behind Uganda’s shift to clean energy. It has rolled out an aggressive financing plan aimed at making solar systems, clean cookstoves, and other renewable energy solutions cheaper for households, schools, farmers, and small businesses.
Uganda is struggling with high energy costs, blackouts, and heavy reliance on charcoal and firewood. Equity Bank says the missing piece has been money. If people can pay in smaller amounts over time, clean energy stops being a luxury and becomes something ordinary Ugandans can actually use.
Virginia Semakula, Equity Bank’s Head of Energy, Environment and Climate Change, says cost is the biggest hurdle.
“Many Ugandans want solar systems, clean cookstoves, and renewable energy solutions, but the initial costs remain too high for households and small businesses,” she notes. Government tax waivers on solar products have helped, but the bank argues that loan terms also need to change. Most banks offer 12-month loans, yet solar and clean energy systems make sense only with longer repayment periods.
“We need more flexible financing with lower interest rates and longer repayment periods, especially for solar technologies. A 24-month repayment structure works much better for many customers,” Semakula explained.
To address that, Equity Bank has launched green loan products like Equi-Green Loans and Green Enterprise Financing. The bank works directly with renewable energy companies that install the systems, while Equity finances the customer. The goal is simple: cut the upfront cost so families and businesses can switch from charcoal, kerosene, and firewood to cleaner options.
A big part of the plan is Results-Based Financing, or RBF. Instead of paying incentives upfront, RBF only releases money after an independent team confirms the system is installed and working.
“Results-Based Financing is not about promises. The systems must first be installed, operational, and verified by an independent third party before incentives are paid out,” the official said.
Equity has already used this model with partners like GIZ-NDEF to roll out solar and improved cookstoves in communities that are off the national grid.
The impact is showing up in daily life. Rural homes are spending less on fuel and breathing cleaner air. Salons, shops, and agro-processors are using solar to stay open longer and reduce electricity bills.
In Alebtong district, schools with new solar power say students can study at night, enrollment has risen, and grades have improved.
“In some schools, electricity access changed everything. Students could study longer, enrollment increased, and schools even recorded improved academic performance,” Semakula explains.
Equity Bank says financing is also growing the market itself. More solar companies are entering, competition is pushing prices down, and jobs are being created.
Banks have long feared that customers won’t repay or that the technology will fail, but Equity says its RBF data tells a different story.
“There has always been fear that customers may not repay or that the technologies may fail, but the results are showing otherwise. Customers are paying, and adoption is growing,” she highlights further.
During Energy Month, the bank will run “Green Friday” campaigns where people can see, touch, and test renewable energy products. It also plans to bring more energy companies on board and teach Ugandans how to choose and use clean energy wisely.
Equity’s long-term goal is to make green loans as normal as school fees loans or boda boda financing. With Pay-As-You-Go models and RBF, the bank believes Uganda can scale clean energy nationwide without pushing families into debt.
“Our vision is a Uganda where every household and business can access clean energy without taking on unmanageable debt,” the official said.
The bank estimates that if financing barriers keep falling, Uganda’s green energy sector could attract hundreds of millions of dollars in investment. For Equity, clean energy is not just about the environment anymore.
“Clean energy is about better health, lower costs, improved education, stronger businesses, and better livelihoods. That is the future we are financing,” Semakula added.
