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EIB Global, part of the European Investment Bank, and the Housing Finance Bank (HFB) of Uganda have today announced a partnership to avail €50 million investment to support private sector entities, notably SMEs in Uganda. The operation has a special gender focus with an aim to enhance women’s access to finance by reserving at least half of the investment funds to be allocated to businesses owned and/or run by women, and/or employing and/or serving women, and to thereby generate higher developmental impact. This is considered a significant intervention for the women customers of Housing Finance Bank through financing activities of…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $6 million to the African Water Facility, to support the operationalization of the Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative (AUSII) – a new financing window dedicated to improving sanitation in African urban cities. The African Water Facility, a special project preparation fund established as an initiative of the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), is hosted and managed by the African Development Bank. The Africa Urban Sanitation Investment Initiative will come as a response to improve urban access to safely managed sanitation in Africa, which is rapidly urbanizing at a present rate of…

The NRM women’s leadership has encouraged women and supporters of the ruling party to participate in the upcoming registration, display, and update process starting next Wednesday, the 13th. The NRM National Chairman and President H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni launched a countrywide registration exercise for all party members at the Secretariat at Plot 10, Kyadondo Road. In a press conference held today at the NRM Secretariat ahead of the women’s day celebrations for Friday, 8th, the second National Vice Chairperson Female of NRM and First Deputy Prime Minister, Rt.Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, called on all women to go to their village registrars…

Uganda’s first 5G Network Airtel Uganda has formed a partnership with Carlcare, an after-sales service related to mobile devices to enhance the post-purchase experience for mobile phone users. The announcement was made today at Carlcare Offices. Mobile phone devices are increasing in circulation because they play a key role in aiding day-to-day communication for both personal and business needs. Speaking about the partnership, Joweria Nabakka, Director – Customer Experience at Airtel Uganda noted, “As someone deeply immersed in the world of technology, I’ve personally witnessed firsthand the challenges our customers face when their devices falter. It’s not just about the…

The Committee of Science, Technology and Innovation has urged the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Monicah Musenero, to revive the sericulture project that government was financing. Sericulture, which involves cultivating silkworms and extracting silk from them, is projected to out-compete coffee as a leading foreign exchange earner for the country, according to Musenero. However, the minister revealed to the committee that the project was suspended due to contractual difficulties with the project lead. “We terminated the memorandum of understanding with the project lead as it was poorly designed and complicated to implement, and the Attorney General guided that…

The Standard Bank Group has appointed Stanbic Bank Uganda Chief Executive Anne Juuko to a new leadership role as Global Markets Regional Head-East Africa. The appointment is effective 1 April 2024. A successor will be announced in due course. Kayode Solola, the Standard Bank Group Executive Head for Global Markets—Africa Regions said, “I congratulate Anne on this skyward deployment within the Group Africa Regions Global Markets leadership where she will oversee seven markets including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, DR Congo, South Sudan, Malawi, and Zambia.” Damoni Kitabire, the Board Chairman for Stanbic Bank Uganda said, “We thank Anne and her colleagues…

A slight easing of activity in some sectors of the economy during February dropped the headline Stanbic Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) to 51.7 from 54.0 in January. However, overall business conditions in the Ugandan private sector continued to improve in February amid further increases in output and new orders resulting in firms increasing their employment and purchasing activity. The Stanbic PMI is a monthly survey carried out by S&P Global involving about 400 respondents, covering agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, wholesale, retail and services. The PMI is a weighted average of the following five indices: New Orders (30%), Output (25%), Employment…

Parliament has directed the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Hon. Chris Baryomunsi, to table the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Amendment) Bill by May 2024 which seeks to introduce amendments to several provisions in the Act. These amendments include Caller Ring Back Tones (CRBTs) charges by telecommunications companies. A CRBT is the audible indication heard by the calling party while waiting for their call to be answered by the called destination, and it can be a song, voice, poem, comedy or any piece of audio work that is preset by a telecom. In its report on issues of national importance…

There was unmatched mixed reactions in the House as Lawmakers voted against a government Bill intended to dissolve the National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) and move its functions to the Ministry of Information, Communication, Technology and National Guidance. The National Information Technology Authority, Uganda (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was one of several Bills seeking to give effect to the Government policy for rationalisation of government agencies and public expenditure adopted by Cabinet in February 2021. Government’s rationale on merging agencies is to ensure efficiency, avoid duplication of services and stop wasteful government expenditure. The House Committee on ICT, which scrutinised…

Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) has appointed Grace Semakula as the new Chief Executive for SBG Securities Uganda Limited (SBGS) and by virtue of that position, an Executive Director on the company Board, effective March 1, 2024. The appointment is subject to regulatory approval. Semakula who was previously with UMEME replaces Joram Ongura—the SBG Securities founding Chief Executive who left the role last May. He has a wealth of expertise and experience spanning nearly 20 years of practice in the sectors of Asset Management, Brokerage and Energy & Infrastructure, 12 of which have been at Executive and Board leadership level. Commenting on his appointment, Francis Karuhanga,…