Sustainability is not a fad, it’s the future of business

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OPINION

By Peter Ssenyange

When people talk about sustainability, they often think of it as something external, a catchphrase borrowed from environmentalists or multilateral agencies. For me, the definition is far simpler and more practical. Sustainability means being relevant, today and tomorrow, in the society in which you do business. It is about ensuring that your institution’s success endures because it continuously creates value for its customers, employees, shareholders, and the wider community.

That, in essence, is why sustainability is not a fad. It is the new foundation of profitability.

This year, the ACCA Uganda CFO Awards, held in partnership with Deloitte, confirmed this shift. Sustainability was no longer a side conversation; it was centre stage. When Pearl Bank took home the Sustainability Award, and I was humbled to be named CFO of the Year, it signalled something bigger than individual recognition; a collective realisation that the future belongs to institutions that thrive by making a measurable, positive impact.

From compliance to core strategy

The financial industry is learning that sustainability is not a corporate accessory but a strategic lens. In the past, it was easy for banks to focus narrowly on short-term profitability, lending to salaried employees, holding government securities, and chasing quarterly growth. Those were safe bets, but they created limited long-term value.

The next phase of financial sector growth will depend on how well banks can finance the real economy, the smallholder farmers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and innovators who generate jobs and exports. That requires new thinking about risk, governance, and purpose. Profit will flow not from extraction, but from participation: from growing with customers rather than lending around them.

Governance as the bedrock

True sustainability is impossible without governance. It starts with a board that understands its fiduciary duty not just as oversight, but as stewardship. It extends to risk management that recognises both financial and non-financial risks, environmental, social, and reputational.

When governance is strong, sustainability stops being a slogan and becomes a system. It builds institutions that are transparent, accountable, and trusted. Those are the banks investors prefer to finance, and regulators prefer to work with.

Globally, the evidence is clear: companies with strong sustainability frameworks outperform over time. They manage shocks better, attract patient capital, and maintain customer loyalty. Uganda’s financial sector is slowly but surely internalising this logic.

Technology and inclusion

Digital transformation has become the great enabler of sustainability. Our experience with our Wendi digital wallet has shown that through mobile platforms, fintech partnerships, and agent networks, banks can now reach people who were previously invisible to the financial system.

An innovation like Wendi aligns with our purpose of Fostering Prosperity for Ugandans, which is implemented through our two high-impact goals: To drive sustainable financial inclusion and To stimulate entrepreneurship and service so that we usher more Ugandans into the money economy through convenient, affordable, and accessible financial solutions.

So that we speak about inclusion, it ceases to be centred on reach, but also on relevance by focusing on key elements like: Financial literacy, affordable products, and fair terms for customers.

When technology meets empathy, banking becomes a force for empowerment, allowing micro-entrepreneurs, farmers, and informal traders to participate fully in the economy. That’s sustainable finance in action.

The evolving role of the CFO

The modern Chief Financial Officer sits at the intersection of finance, governance, and impact. Our role is no longer limited to producing clean audit opinions. We are architects of sustainability, responsible for ensuring that profitability aligns with long-term value creation.

That is what the ACCA–Deloitte CFO Awards celebrate: leadership that links purpose with performance. Finance leaders are being called to champion transformation, build resilient systems, and translate sustainability from theory into results. The profession is moving from counting money to counting meaning.

The way forward

Ugandan banks have an opportunity and a responsibility to redefine success. The industry can:

Treat sustainability as a strategy. Integrate it into credit policies, performance goals, and incentive systems.

Finance value creation. Support enterprises that add jobs, exports, and productivity.

Invest in reach and relevance. Use digital tools to make inclusion real, not rhetorical.

Model integrity. Governance is the soul of sustainability and without it, no amount of innovation endures.

Sustainability is not about ticking boxes or winning awards. It’s about survival and purpose. It’s about ensuring that the institutions we build today will still matter and still be trusted a generation from now.

An example of an entity that has continued to create a profound impact on its society is Pearl Bank, through its branch footprint and alternative digital financial solutions.

Therefore, the transition from PostBank to Pearl Bank aligns with the bank's overall strategic plan, aimed at ensuring that the business remains committed to delivering on its mandate of Fostering Prosperity for Ugandans by leveraging opportunities at a local and regional scale.

As mentioned earlier, sustainability is simply being relevant in the society in which you do business. For finance professionals and banks alike, that relevance is the surest path to both profit and legacy.

The writer is Chief Financial Officer, Pearl Bank (formerly PostBank Uganda)