Browsing: Uganda

President Yoweri Museveni got assurance on Uganda’s beef exports to Britain and a commitment of $19.6 million funding at the UK-Africa Investment Summit.

The funding pledge is part of a $419 million UK Aid package for the 21 countries invited to the investment Summit.

The funding is intended to start a new phase of financial sector development (FSD) across Africa, to increase the existing financial sector programmes, set up and scale up new FSDs in high priority markets, including Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and the West African Monetary Union.

The State House of Uganda said that President Museveni held a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of the summit with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Also Read: Uganda Development Bank unveils $500 million plan for lending

President Museveni asked UK’s prime minister to encourage more British firms to invest in Uganda, saying that the country has vast investment opportunities in the …

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 …

The East African Community has marked its 20^th Anniversary with pomp and fanfare at its Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

This comes as the community mulls over the inclusion of The Democratic Republic of Congo into the community, which would not only give the community a major population rise but also a coast to coast linking both the East African coast and the West African coast. Though the considerations are yet to be approved, policy analysts believe this move is a matter of when not if. However, there is still contention on whether to include the East most country, Somalia which has also expressed interest.

Uganda’s 2^nd Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Hon. Dr. Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, who presided over the anniversary celebration, said that EAC Partner States would not repeat the mistake of the past that led to the collapse of the first Community.

Dr. …

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,” …

Strict regulations on the use of farm chemicals are locking out fresh produce exporters in East Africa from the European Union (EU) market.

The European Union (EU), which is the leading importer of horticulture produce mainly from Kenya, has amended its policy on the maximum residue levels (MRLs) by lowering permissible limits in food produce.

This comes after the EU put Kenya back on the blacklist of countries using high levels of pesticides.

Due to risk assessment, the European Union lowered the MRLs for several pesticides allowed to produce entering its market mostly ones used in citrus fruits and bananas.

New MRL limits have been set at 0.01 milligrammes per kilogramme (mg/kg) against the international standard that of 2.0 mg/kg MRL level.

Beans and peas new requirements are awaiting approval before coming into effect in January.

With the new MRL limits, exporters and their EU importing agencies must pay $1,212 …

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 …

African governments are harnessing digital technologies to support ongoing reforms and better serve the interests of citizens, according to industry experts at the Global Business Forum Africa 2019 in Dubai.

Innocent Muhizi, CEO, Rwanda Information Society Authority who spoke during a session entitled Rethinking Government – Working with the New Guard, explained how the government agency partnered with companies to develop an e-procurement platform that handles proposals and contracts and said the government in Rwanda operates like a private sector entity by setting KPIs and working towards ambitious targets.

Hon. David J. Francis, Chief Minister, Republic of Sierra Leone, noted that his country was in the process of creating a “new direction government” built around digital innovation, science and technology. He explained that his department has piloted iPads to reduce stationery, introduced an automated public expenditure policy and expanding internet and mobile coverage, providing real-time data to citizens – …

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 …

East African based WeFarm the digital network for global small-scale agriculture, have announced it has raised $13 million in a Series A financing round led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm True Ventures.

This financing round will help Wefarm further scale its network of 1.9 million farmers, and its newly created Marketplace, to connect farmers in Africa, even those without internet access, to the information, products and services they need to be more successful. Investing alongside True Ventures are AgFunder and June Fund, among others. The company received significant follow-on investments from LocalGlobe, ADV and Norrsken Foundation.

Founded in 2015, Wefarm is on a mission to create a global eco-system for small-scale agriculture. With more than 1 billion people directly involved in small-scale farming, it is the biggest industry in the world. Wefarm is building the network of trust for those farmers.

Wefarm Marketplace allows farmers to easily access quality …