THE LAST WORD: By Andrew Mwenda Why Museveni has not transformed agricultural Uganda into an industrial economy and what can be done President Yoweri Museveni’s stated objective is to transform Uganda from an agrarian to an industrial nation. He has been in power for 30 years, the period South Korea …
Read More »Can Africa’s mobile money revolution reduce poverty?
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | When farmer Isaac Tondo fell on lean times in Liberia’s long rainy season, his brother in the capital sent 8,000 Liberian dollars (US$87) to his Lonestar mobile money account, ensuring his children’s school fees would still be paid. Across Africa more and more people — …
Read More »World Bank squeeze killing Ugandan economy – experts
Unlike most past World Bank country managers for Uganda, the current boss, Christina Malmberg Calvo, is relatively media wary. She, instead, prefers to work quietly behind the scenes to execute her two key result areas; leading discussions between the Bank and the Uganda government, and overseeing projects involving the World …
Read More »The bailout question
COMMENT: David Chandi Jamwa Bailout – How to get it done and done right without using taxpayers money For the past three months or so I have been seeing myriad opinions, sentiments, emotions, rebuttals, re-rebuttals, postulations, reverse-postulations, forwardings, withdrawals, denials, and in several cases outright rubbish, flying around the Ugandan …
Read More »Uganda’s financial inclusion success
Uganda is one of the top performers in financial inclusion, according to the US-based Brookings Finance and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP). Uganda was ranked 5th among the 26 countries surveyed with the success being attributed to a strong level of mobile money adoption and the amendment of the Financial Institutions …
Read More »Critiquing Bank of Uganda at 50
What anniversary year says about the state of the monetary policy signal COMMENT: Geoffrey A Onegi-Obel The Bank of Uganda on August 2 and 3 capped a series of celebratory Golden Jubilee activities with the annual Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lecture and an Anniversary Day with President Yoweri Museveni as the …
Read More »TAXES: Akol’s massive shortfall headache
Having been appointed in October 2014 to replace the long-serving Allen Kagina as commissioner general of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Doris Akol started her tenure on a rather good note. At the presentation of her very first annual revenue performance report in July last year, she was all smiles …
Read More »Uganda’s much-discussed bailout
On March 31 2016, the total value of all loans in Uganda’s commercial banking industry was Shs21.7 trillion of which Shs528 billion were non-performing loans (or “bad loans”) i.e. 2.64% of the total. Under the effective oversight of Bank of Uganda, especially its director for supervision; Justine Bagyenda (known in …
Read More »Fight over Museveni’s business bailout money
Inside the Shs1 trillion rescue plan for loan stressed companies On July 9, President Yoweri Museveni summoned top officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) for a meeting at State House, Entebbe. Amongst those who attended what has been described as a high …
Read More »World Bank hails Northern Corridor logistics environment
Northern Corridor success: New World Bank report highlights logistics on EAC’s Northern Corridor as an inspiring African success story Finally, the massive investments in projects to remove logistical bottlenecks in the East African Community are starting to pay off great dividends. A new World Bank report dubbed, ‘Trade Logistics in …
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