Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) plan to jointly construct 1,200 kilometres of roads.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi signed the agreement at the first Joint Business Forum held at the Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala. The aim of the forum was to promote bilateral trade, investment and connectivity between the two countries.

The project is set to ease the movement of goods and people, bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.

The project includes 24 kilometres Bunagana-Goma road up to Rutshuru in DRC, a 180 kilometres road from Goli in northern Uganda to Beni and 977 kilometres road from Mpondwe border post in western Uganda to Beni in DRC.

Also Read: DRC tops informal trade scale with Rwanda

Official trade data cited by Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa during the forum launch showed that DR Congo is one of the key …

Uganda’s public debt has risen to $12.2 billion from June this year from about $9.4 billion in 2017, data from the Ministry of Finance shows.

With the rapid accumulation of debts, payment concerns have risen even as government economists tread between defiance and caution.

The national debt which was equivalent to 37 per cent of GDP in 2017, has now risen to 42 per cent of annual economic output.

The huge loans are intended to finance big infrastructure projects in the transport and energy sectors.
Total interest payment on the debt has risen from $2.6 billion in 2016/17 to $3.3 billion by the end of 2018/19.
The increased payments have been made worse by the diminished tax revenue growth and limited economic benefits linked to some infrastructure projects.

Despite a revenue surplus of $69.3 million recorded in 2018/19, the taxman posted revenue collection deficits for three preceding years in a …

A team of four medical entrepreneurs in Uganda have invented a new technology named M-scan – a low cost, portable ultrasound device.

Dr Prosper Ahimbisibwe, the clinical lead and co-founder, Innocent Menyo, team lead, Phillip Kyomuhendo, radiographer and Ivan Nasasira, a technology leader, have invented the M-scan to help reduce maternity and infant death rate in Uganda.

Dr Prosper Ahimbisibwe, a 26-year old Makerere University medical graduate, is the director and co-founder of M-scan.

According to statistics by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at least 830 mothers in developing countries lose their lives daily due to pregnancy-related complications.

During an interview with a local magazine, Dr Ahimbisibwe said: “As a healthcare specialist and entrepreneur, I believe in innovation to change the world and make it a better place for humanity.”

Dr Ahimbisibwe said that during their community service, education and research programmes as medical students they were posted in upcountry …

Uganda’s exports for the period ending September experienced an 8 per cent decline, according to the Central Bank of Uganda.

According to a report released by the Bank of Uganda last week, it indicates that earnings from exports for the period ending September stood at $296m compared to $326m in August.

Despite the decline, gold, which has become a key export commodity for Uganda among others such as coffee, fish, tobacco and maize, stood out as some of the commodities that hit impressive earnings during the period.

The report shows that in the period ending September, a total of 1,530 kilogrammes of gold were exported noting that the exports were less than the 1,755 kilogrammes that were exported in August.

Uganda’s Export Promotion Board trade and information executive, Mr John Lwere said they were still analyzing the trends in performance. He also noted that gold is gradually becoming part of …

Uganda food inflation declines in spite of a failed harvest from the 2019 first crop season.

Uganda has maintained a relatively low food inflation rate at 1.9 per cent from the 2018 bumper harvest.
Since June 2018, the country has experienced a great harvest of maize, beans, sorghum rice; cassava, sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes that which has kept the prices of all staple foods low meaning households were able to meet their food needs.

Opolot Okaasai, a crop resource expert and former director at the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries said that 2018 was good since the first rains came on time across the country and floods came after the crops had been harvested.

This year however started on a difficult note for the country. Although the first quarter was affected by the two tropical cyclones that hit Mozambique and disrupted the country’s rain pattern despite it …

Uganda’s monthly foreign exchange between banks stabilise at $20m

Speaking during a panel discussion on the current state of the financial markets at the Barclays Bank organised dealers meeting last week, Mr Peter Mbowa, the Barclays Bank (Absa) Uganda head of treasury, said there has been a steady inflow of foreign currency into the market.

He also noted that “On average, the volume of dollars traded in the interbank market is about $20m a month.”
He further added that wholly Uganda has a dollar demand of $800m per month with exports needing at least $300m in comparison with $500m for the import bill.

However, Mr Mbowa said the Ugandan currency market lacks sophistication and it cannot absorb large volumes of foreign currency.

During the meeting, Brenda Lwanga, a currency trader at Citi Bank Uganda, said that Ugandan shilling has been strong against the dollar because of a strong currency …