Uganda’s Umeme has secured a $70 million syndicated loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Dutch Development Bank (FMO), Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic bank.

From the loan $28 million was from IFC, $10 million from FMO, $16 million from Standard Chartered Bank and $16 million from Stanbic bank.

Umeme chairman, Mr Patrick Bitature said the loan would partly be used to undertake capital investments to get electricity from Uganda’s newest dams.

“The planned investments are aimed at expanding the network to uptake the new generation, improve reliability and create access,” he said.

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Mr Bitature said the loan would also be utilised to prioritise Umeme’s investments in five other areas such as upgrading its network, extending power to industrial parks, building the backbone for more electricity connections to be supplied, reducing energy losses and accelerate prepayment metering.…

Uganda Development Bank (UDB) unveiled a four-year strategic plan of $500 million to provide long-term financing to the private sector.

Despite efforts from Uganda’s government of capitalising, the bank cannot meet the growing capital demand needed by the private sector. This is one of the reasons why the lender is seeking sovereign guarantees from Parliament and government to affect some of the endorsed financings from multilateral lenders such as African Development Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, French Development Organisation, Kuwait Fund, BADEA and EXIM Bank of India.

“UDB’s four-year strategic plan has three impact goals which include reducing the number of people living below the poverty line of $1.25 by 500,000 people by the year 2024, building sustainable food security by lending more to the agriculture sector and industrialisation,” said Mr Denis Ochieng the acting managing director UDB as he addressed Members of Parliament (MPs) on …

Rwanda and Uganda are quite ahead of their East African neighbours in the global switch to electric cars, even as infrastructure shortcomings limit investments in the emerging sector.

In the past two months, Kampala and Kigali have unveiled electric vehicle assembly plants, with Kenya and Tanzania only making baby steps toward embracing the new technology.

Uganda’s state-owned Kiira Motors Corporation has so far built two battery-powered cars and a solar electric bus showing its ambition in the region.

The electric bus is called the Kayoola Electric Vehicle Series (EVS) and has been built using Kiira Motors home-grown green mobility technologies while partnering with Motor Co. Ltd, a Chinese Equipment Manufacturer.

The electric buses have a capacity of 90 passengers (49 sitting and 41 standing), compared to the diesel engine vehicles which have a capacity of 65 passengers. They can cover a distance of 300km under a single charge.

Last year …

Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) is set to host the 5th annual Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE 2020); a tourism and travel trade exhibition which brings together regional and international tour operators, travel agents, destination agencies and various players in the tourism trade to network and facilitate tourism business.

Uganda, famous for its green and equatorial national parks. These include Queen Elizabeth National Park -Uganda’s most-visited National Park, Murchison Falls National Park -Uganda’s largest national park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park famous for its mountain gorillas and Rwenzori Mountain, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The three-day expo will run from 4-6 February 2020 and will be held at the Speke Resort in Munyonyo. POATE 2020 will integrate business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) trade event format under the theme “Inspiring high-value engagement to promote Intra Africa travel for leisure, business and adventure”. It aims to raise Uganda’s profile …

The Africa Finance Corporation(AFC) has advanced $20 million funding for the construction of Uganda’s crude oil refinery, paving the way for the start of the $4.27 billion projects.

Africa Finance Corporation signed the financing deal on the sidelines of the Africa Oil Week in South Africa mid this month.

Other financiers expected to put money into the multi-billion-dollar project include the African Development Bank, Prosper Africa, a US government Initiative that unlocks opportunities to do business in Africa and Trace and Development Agency another US-based firm.

AFC managing director Ammadou Wadda, representatives from US-based Prosper Africa Initiative, Trace Development Agency and African Development Bank president Akiwumi Adesinia attended the side event.
The investors also agreed to hold a meeting next year to discuss how to raise funds for the refinery. The refinery’s management is also expected to give details about the project and existing investment opportunities to potential investors.…

French business delegation of more than 25 companies will visit Uganda to explore business opportunities, invest in Uganda and create partnerships for trade.

According to a statement given by the French embassy in Uganda, the delegation will be in the country from 25th to 26th November 2019.

The business delegation is an initiative of MEDEF International – the French business confederation with 170,000 member companies and ten million employees.

The initiative is supported by the Ugandan embassy in Paris, the French embassy in Kampala and Ugandan authorities.

The business delegation will be led by Momar Nguer, Chairman of the Africa Committee of MEDEF International and President Marketing and Services and member of the Executive Committee of Total.

According to the statement from the embassy, the delegation will mainly discuss major opportunities and challenges affecting the country.

“The French companies are eager to develop their activities, partnerships, and investments in Uganda,” …