She lends where traditional finance hesitates, showing that financial inclusion can be both transformative and commercially viable.

Mercy Sande AinoMugisha holds that no one should be excluded from financial services for lacking collateral, extensive documentation or a formal banking history.

Career

She began as a Credit Officer at Finance Trust Bank, then worked at Equity Bank, FINCA, Stanbic Bank Uganda and UGAFODE, where she held a senior credit leadership role.

In 2019 she became CEO and Managing Director of VisionFund Uganda, which she led from losses to a stronger financial position while keeping its mission of serving underserved communities and improving the wellbeing of children and families.

She holds a Master of Management Studies from Uganda Management Institute and an MBA in Strategic Planning from Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University. Her executive education includes Harvard, Wharton and Strathmore Business School, plus Chartered Institute of Marketing training in marketing and sustainability.

VisionFund Uganda

Founded in 1996 as a Christian microfinance institution aligned with World Vision Uganda, VisionFund Uganda now marks

30 Years of Impact & Community Transformation

Empowering Families, Advancing Financial Inclusion, Building Brighter Futures this year marks three decades of lending to people the formal system overlooked, a milestone that makes AinoMugisha’s turnaround of the institution all the more notable.

It serves rural households, women, youth, refugees, smallholder farmers, microentrepreneurs and SMEs.

Its offerings include individual and group lending, Village Savings and Loan Association financing, agricultural and livelihood loans, and education finance structured around the seasonal cash flows of schools.

Women empowerment

AinoMugisha prioritises mentoring and promoting women, internally and among customers. VisionFund’s focus on women entrepreneurs and women-led households earned it the Empower Award.

Refugees and host communities

From 2019, VisionFund pioneered dedicated microfinance for refugees and host communities in Palorinya and Bidi Bidi, later extending to Adjumani.

Early repayment levels of around 95 percent challenged the assumption that borrowers without collateral or credit histories are inherently high-risk.

In her view, risk should be judged on capacity, character, cash flow and behaviour, not pledged assets.

Customer focus

During a month dedicated to customer focus, she visited Agnes Nabakooza, proprietor of a nursery and primary school in Nansana, to see first-hand how financing affects a school’s operations and growth.

Her position: products should be designed around customers’ realities, not imposed from the boardroom.

Growth

VisionFund commissioned a new head office in Kamwokya in October 2025 and now operates 26 branches. It is investing in digital services, faster credit processes, customer relationship management and stronger credit discipline.

She maintains that an institution serving vulnerable communities must itself stay financially strong.

Sector voice

She argues that ESG principles should be embedded in the culture and decisions of financial institutions rather than treated as a compliance exercise, with customer participation central to product design.

She sits on the Board of the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda, chairing its Strategy Committee, and is affiliated with The BoardRoom Africa and the Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda.

The Evolve Africa view

AinoMugisha’s career, from Credit Officer to chief executive, has centred on one question: how can finance reach those the system has left behind?

As VisionFund celebrates three decades of impact and community transformation, its record shows that lack of collateral is not lack of creditworthiness, and that commercial discipline, social purpose and people-centred leadership can reinforce one another, making her a fitting Executive of the Week.