The new banking model is expected to deepen financial inclusion Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | Uganda’s commercial banks have started rolling out agent banking following Kenya and Rwanda’s footsteps in an effort to grow deposits and customer base. This follows the coming into force of the Financial Institutions Act …
Read More »‘I will fight for Ugandan coffee’
Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Dr. Albrecht Conze is Germany’s new Ambassador to Uganda. He talked to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke about his first impressions and more. What have been some of your impressions of Uganda since you arrived in the country? I am amazed by the stability in …
Read More »Surprises in 2018 Uganda budget
Surprises in 2018 budget:mFinance Ministry makes right moves, but timing could be wrong Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | For years now, Uganda’s budget making process has been dominated by debates about four contentious issues; the government’s huge investment in infrastructure, domestic resource mobilisation, the size and rate of external …
Read More »China’s waste import ban upends global recycling industry
Beijing, China | AFP | For years China was the world’s top destination for recyclable trash, but a ban on certain imports has left nations scrambling to find new dumping grounds for growing piles of garbage. The decision was announced in July and came into force on January 1, giving companies …
Read More »South Africa central bank chief to head IMF steering committee
Washington, United States | AFP | South Africa’s central bank chief Lesetja Kganyago will take over as chair of the International Monetary Fund’s policy advisory committee, the IMF announced Thursday. Kganyago, who has served as governor of the South African Reserve Bank since late 2014, takes on a three-year post …
Read More »Mixed reactions to Museveni’s New Year speech on economy
What experts think is important in regard to president’s message Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Gideon Badagawa, the executive director at the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), says President Yoweri Museveni’s New Year speech with regard to value addition was well-intentioned. “The concentration of the speech on value addition …
Read More »COMMENT: Uganda’s big dreams, small purse
Why is country mortgaging her future by relying on external borrowing rather than tax revenue? COMMENT | MUSA MAYANJA LWANGA & FLORENCE NAKAZI | In the recent past, owing to Uganda’s many development needs including large infrastructure projects and expanding public administration costs, government expenditure has significantly exceeded revenue collection. This has …
Read More »Banks scramble for a pie of Uganda’s insurance industry
New move expected to boost country’s insurance penetration Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | For a long time, buying insurance policies in Uganda through commercial banks, also known as bancassurance, remained unthinkable. Policies were purchased directly from insurers’ branches or through brokers, a situation that had been blamed for a slowdown …
Read More »MTN licence expires, rivals fight renewal
MTN licence expires: Dirty details of Uganda telecom sector exposed Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Uganda’s largest telecom company, MTN Uganda is caught up in a fight to secure the renewal of its licence which expires this year, The Independent can reveal. With 55 percent of telecom market share …
Read More »These headphones cost Shs11m
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Sennheiser has announced its priciest headphones yet — a pair of $3,000 (Approx. Shs11 million) glass-covered portable headphones aimed at the hardcore audiophile. The HD 820, is a pair of wired headphones that go over your ears and according to Sennheiser, serve up “astonishingly …
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