HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Equity Bank Uganda has completed a major overhaul of its digital infrastructure by migrating its core data centre operations to the Raxio Data Centre facility in Namanve Industrial Park, a move that underscores the growing importance of a secure, resilient and locally hosted digital network in the country’s banking sector.
The transition, finalised a week ago and officially unveiled on February 25, represents a full relocation of the bank’s critical digital systems into a high-availability, in-country hosting environment. According to the bank, the investment is designed to strengthen system resilience, enhance cybersecurity and improve service reliability for customers across Uganda.
Officials said the shift to a modern, locally based data centre is a strategic response to rising demand for uninterrupted digital banking services. With millions of transactions now occurring in real time, the reliability of digital networks has become central to financial stability and economic growth.
Uganda’s central bank welcomed the development, describing robust digital infrastructure as vital to the stability of the financial system. David Kalyango, Executive Director for Bank Supervision at the Bank of Uganda, said digital networks now form the backbone of banking operations.
“Digital infrastructure today forms the backbone of the financial system. It is not merely a technology issue, it is a financial stability issue,” Kalyango said, warning that failures at systemically important banks can disrupt commerce nationwide.
By hosting its data locally in a high-grade facility, Equity Bank Uganda expects to significantly improve transaction speeds, strengthen data protection and ensure near-continuous service availability. The enhanced infrastructure will support retail customers, small and medium-sized enterprises, corporates and government entities that increasingly rely on real-time payments and digital financial services.
Equity Bank Uganda Executive Director Commercial Banking Claver Serumaga said the migration will reinforce key platforms, including Equity Online for Business, enabling seamless real-time payments, collections, trade finance and treasury services.
“Our customers require secure, efficient banking at all times,” Serumagga said. “This move strengthens our digital platforms and enhances service reliability. Local hosting reduces latency and improves our disaster recovery capabilities.”
The migration process required a temporary service interruption, during which customers experienced a two-day downtime. Serumagga thanked customers for their patience, noting that the complex transition was fully supported by the bank’s board of directors.
For Raxio Uganda, the partnership highlights growing confidence in Uganda’s emerging digital infrastructure ecosystem. Caroline Kamaitha, General Manager of Raxio Uganda, said high-availability data centres provide a secure environment that enables critical institutions to innovate with confidence while safeguarding sensitive information.
Serumagga emphasized that local data hosting carries strategic advantages, particularly as Equity Bank serves more than two million customers nationwide.
“Having data locally comes with a lot of advantages. This investment is about our clients,” he said. “As Equity, we stand for transforming lives with dignity, and moves such as these enable us to achieve that even faster.”
The migration positions Equity Bank Uganda within a strengthened, locally hosted digital framework, reinforcing regulatory compliance, boosting operational resilience and supporting Uganda’s transition toward a more digitised, inclusive and secure financial ecosystem.
