Browsing: Uganda

Increased gold export in recent months has strengthened the Ugandan shilling, helping ease inflationary pressure from imported goods.

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics reported that the annual headline inflation had slowed to 1.9 per cent in the month of September compared to 2.1 per cent registered in August, which is largely attributable to a stronger shilling.

Data from the Bank of Uganda shows that the shilling which was trading at 3,765.6 against the dollar in May, has remained stable at just over the 3,600 units for the months of August and September.

Since May, Uganda’s earnings from gold exports have been increasing from $78.7 million to $97.3 in July.

Dr Fred Muhumuza, a development economist, says the shilling which had been destined to reach the 4,000 units to the dollar mark, is now gaining strength thanks to Uganda’s gold exports.

Also Read: Tanzania state gold-miner quest for the local market

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a deal with Uganda to open its East African branch in Kampala.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Benedict Oramah, Afrexim bank president signed the deal which will see Uganda as its fifth branch.

Afrexim bank which is a pan-continent investment lender has other branches in Abuja, Cairo, Abidjan and Harare.

Prof Oramah said that the opening of an East Africa branch would deepen the bank’s involvement with the region’s institutions.

The Kampala branch will start operating end of October 2019 and will serve 11 countries: Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and Comoros.

Kudakwashe Matereke Afrexim East Africa chief operating officer said it is in talks with Uganda’s  National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to have it join others in the region like Rwanda’s social board to become one of the lender’s institutional investors.

Also Read: New bank

National air service Uganda Airlines is to add three more regional flights to its schedule this month increasing its destination to seven.

Jenifer Bamuturaki the airlines’ commercial director, said the ai shuttle will make its debut flight to Bujumbura, Burundi at a promotional fee of $255 on September 30th and on 11th October it will fly to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and to Mombasa, Kenya at a cost of $165 and $312 respectively.

These flights will be an addition to the initial routes of Mogadishu, Nairobi, Juba and Dar es salaam.

Ms Bamuturaki said the air carrier is planning to increase the frequency on some of the routes that have a growing number of passengers. The increase in flights will see three daily flights to Nairobi from the initial two flights and two flights to Juba from the initial one flight, which she said will depend on the acquisition of more …

Bowmans Law firm, a leading pan African legal entity specializing in business deals, merger and acquisitions (M&A) is set to launch its base in Ethiopia and Mauritius at the beginning of October 2019. The move is seen as an expansion of the company to two countries where FDIs have remained high coupled with financial growth.

Bowmans is opening a fully-fledged office in Mauritius, having joined forces with FirmWise, a local firm that specialises in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, investment funds, tax, compliance and private equity.

Robert Legh, chairman, and senior partner, says ‘This move, which is effective from 1 October 2019, is an investment in the ambitions and success of our clients across Africa. Mauritius and Ethiopia are key jurisdictions for many of our clients and our presence on the ground there will help us to better support them.’

The law firm already has a presence …

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is set to auction hundreds of imported cars destined for Uganda, which are now abandoned in warehouses in Mombasa.

According to the East Africa Community Custom Management act 2004, the cars have exceeded their permitted clearance and warehousing period. Which according to the act, the cars can stay in the warehouse within 30 days from the date the auction bid was placed and after failing to pay all the requisite fees, taxes, fines, penalties and charges that will have accrued.

A number of the cars have already been auctioned as the bidding process ended early this month.

A URA official in Mombasa Charles Busomba said that the auction is ongoing and some vehicles will be actioned to decongest the warehouses and to avoid accruing more storage charges.

“Due process was followed and we placed public notices in different media and in our government website to attract …

Ugandan grown cocoa bean is producing one of kind chocolate that is about to make an inroad into USA providing the world with authentic African flavors through South African based chocolate maker De Villiers.

Classed among the finest cocoa beans in the world, the crops grown in the tropical, rainy Bundibugyo district of Western Uganda produce a cocoa bean rich in the complexity of flavors. De Villiers Chocolate uses only these UTZ Certified beans because supporting sustainable cocoa farming is vitally important to Africa’s future.

With their positioning as the first African-originated UTZ Certified chocolate brand, De Villiers are hoping to bring their distinctive new products and intriguing new flavors to the USA, with a diverse range designed to provide an indulgent exploration of sensory delights with unique African flavor profiles.

The new range created for the USA market underlines their commitment to quality and authenticity throughout their chocolate-making …

Uganda road toll fees to start in January 2020 on the Chinese-funded  51 kilometre Entebbe Expressway in Uganda.

The government of Uganda seeks to raise money to finance public infrastructure projects through toll fees.

Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA) is to start charging fees for the Kampala – Entebbe expressway that links the capital Kampala with the Entebbe international airport. This is following the enactment of the new road act that was passed by the Ugandan parliament.

Allen Kagina the executive director UNRA said the authority has already started on the process to procure an operator and by January 2020 they will start collecting the toll fees.

The expressway has been free to use since it was opened to traffic in June last year. Lack of tolling equipment and an operator caused the delay.

Ms Kagina said that reports show an increase in traffic on the road with the increase …

Ugandan Asians fear expulsion as MPs dig into properties that were left behind in 1972 after the first expulsion.

A section of Ugandans of Asian origin says that with the parliamentary looking into the management and status of properties left in 1972, they fear it is likely to result in a second expulsion.

They believe that it is “targeting individuals” instead of dealing with the real problem of the properties.

A selected task force of the parliamentary on Commission Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) committee is investigating members of the Association of Expropriated Properties Owners’ Limited on the matter.

The members say that it is only President Yoweri Museveni who can save the image of the country by stopping what they are calling “rewriting Amin’s history”

Mr Mohammad Allibhai, the association’s chair said, “The way the Cosase is handling this matter based on a whistleblower shows that we the …

An Austrian company Technik-Plus has developed a cutting-edge Carbon Farming-technology in their Impuls-Centre in Mureck, Southern Austria,  for sustainable and gently mechanized farming with a strong commitment to conservation and environmental sustainability and a special focus on African agriculture.

The company has been making inroads in several countries in Africa with significant sales in South Africa, Uganda, Gambia and Morocco. They are in talks with farmer’s organizations in Kenya and Nigeria with a targeted niche in semi-arid agriculture in many African nations.

The Austrian company says it has sales contacts in all 55 African countries and is looking at possibly developing local license assembly in specific countries for their tractors, which is expected to create local jobs and makes it a 50% African product.

Beside their pneumatic air seeders, the company also construct “exhaust-farming” systems, which means, they blow the carbon emissions of the tractor’s exhaust pipe back into the …

Sub-Saharan African clothing and footwear market is worth $31 billion US dollars and growing. In a series of articles about the industry in Sub Sahara Africa, we will explore the policies, trade and the budding creative fashion industry in the region. This is the second part of the series where we focus on the raw material for the textile industry.

Read the first of our series:  Africa Fashionomics: Making sense of the $31 Billion industry

Kenya has taken years to review and establish a commercially viable production of a variety of cotton laced with foreign genes from the naturally occurring bacterium Bacillus thurigensis. By the start of the year, the government announced it was ready to go full commercial in production of this variety to push the availability of raw materials.

It is highly expected that adoption and commercialization of Bt cotton will revitalize the textile industry and by extension …