How continent is navigating decades-old obstacles to build robust vaccine industry ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufacture 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. It currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since April …
Read More »Stanley bia, the Sunglasses Artist
The youthful artist’s series of paintings of different personalities wearing sunglasses interrogate how these fashionable objects empower self esteem. ART | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | He’s shy and an introvert. If you’re in a room with him, you may miss him out save for his glasses which he never takes off. “I …
Read More »NSSF Smartlife Flexi hits Shs5 billion in savings
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Just three months after its launch, the National Social Security Fund’s (NSSF) flagship voluntary savings product, Smartlife Flexi, has surpassed Shs5 billion in savings, with informal sector micro-savers leading the charge. Praised for its flexibility, the product targets informal sector workers and the self-employed, while …
Read More »Telecom experts push for lower cross-border call charges in Africa
The workshop urged regional governments to accelerate policy alignment to extend affordable mobile services to all member states Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Telecommunications experts have called for urgent policy changes to cut the cost of cross-border mobile services in Africa, as the continent moves towards a seamless digital market. …
Read More »Insurance Consortium fuels Uganda’s oil sector
The oil and gas industry is inherently high-risk, involving massive investments, operational hazards, and environmental concerns. Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | The Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas Uganda (ICOGU) has emerged as a critical player in Uganda’s rapidly evolving energy sector, providing tailored insurance solutions to address the …
Read More »Ugandan journalists talk tough 2026 election
They say soldiers used Kawempe by-election to instill fear but this is a job they signed-up for ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Abubaker Lubowa, a senior photojournalist at Daily Monitor, has over the last decade distinguished himself in photographing some of the most tumultuous political events. Even as many of those …
Read More »Parliament approves $190 million for Umeme concession buyout
However, critics have raised concerns about the government’s capacity to manage the distribution network efficiently Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | In a significant move that marks the end of an era, the Ugandan Parliament has approved a $190 million buyout of Umeme Limited’s concession, effectively paving the way for the …
Read More »Winner Global Scoops Shs40bn Road Project in Nansana
Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Nansana Municipality is set for a major infrastructure boost as Winner Global Enterprises Ltd signed contract documents for a Shs40.9 billion road construction and upgrading project under the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Program (GKMA-UDP). The project, which aims to enhance road infrastructure and …
Read More »Violence in South Sudan is rising again
INTERVIEW | What’s different this time, and how to avoid civil war? A rise in political tensions in South Sudan and an escalation of violence in the Upper Nile State have raised fears of a return to civil war in the world’s youngest nation. In early March 2025, neighbouring Uganda sent …
Read More »Will the United Nations survive Trump 2.0?
Paradoxically, the breakdown of the multilateral order the US helped establish could catalyse greater international cooperation COMMENT | JAYATI GHOSH | Of all the geopolitical stunts Donald Trump has pulled since returning to the White House, the United States’ votes at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on March 4 stand …
Read More »