Kampala — CENTENARY Bank has signed a finance contract with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to access long-term investment funds.

"This partnership will make it possible for Centenary Bank to extend long-term loans and finance leases to her customers," the managing director, John Giles, said.

"The funds will be used to fund projects in agro-industry, fishing, mining, quarrying, construction, food processing, manufacturing, tourism, health and education," he said. He said customers would get long-term credit facilities ranging from three to 10 years.

Giles signed the deal on behalf of Centenary, while Regan Otte, the EIB associate director and Marcelo Cocuzza, the Nairobi regional office chief, signed on behalf of EIB.

They hailed the move, as "a step forward in improving the bank's financing facilities to her customers."

Giles said the bank has diversified its loan portfolio to include small and medium enterprises and corporate lending. to reach the middle and higher-end markets in order.

"This shall enable us to provide banking services to sectors that are complementary to our target market and clientele," Giles said.

The new development comes in the wake of the Centenary Bank 's aggressive but prudent expansion strategy that has seen Centenary Bank open several new upcountry branches, installed Off-site ATMs in busy trading centers in Kampala and in some upcountry locations.

These efforts have also been complemented with the Bank's refurbishing of many of her old branches and moving into new and more spacious premises to ensure a more convenient and conducive banking environment for her customers, thus effectively improving her customer service delivery.

Centenary Bank joins the partnership with 30 big networked Countrywide branches, 51 ATMs conveniently located all over the country, a state-of-the-art IT software.