Business

Expensive hotels: Top operators offer solutions to trend threatening tourism sector Build more high-end hotels and attract more international hotel chains to create competition and lower rates. Those are some of the views of experts in Uganda’s hotel sector about the high costs of hotel accommodation in Uganda which they …

Washington, United States | AFP | The World Bank on Sunday announced $57 billion in financing for sub-Saharan Africa over the next three fiscal years. Of that total, $45 billion will come from the International Development Association, the World Bank fund that provides grants and interest-free loans for the world’s poorest …

Baden-Baden, Germany | AFP | Ministers from the world’s top economies heralded plans to boost development in Africa on Saturday, at an otherwise fractious G20 gathering in Germany. Berlin, which holds the presidency of the powerful nations’ club this year, has made a hoped-for “Compact with Africa” a top priority for …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s second largest airline Aero Contractors has laid off two-thirds of its workforce to save costs and prevent it from going under, a government agency official confirmed on Friday. The company said in a letter to employees on Thursday that it was “constrained to place (them) …

Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | A pastor working in the mines of eastern Sierra Leone has unearthed a 706-carat diamond, the government said Thursday, as experts said the stone could rank as the 10th largest ever found. The huge diamond was discovered by Emmanuel Momoh, one of thousands of …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The seizing of the Aris 13 tanker and its Sri Lankan crew on Monday — the first successful attack by Somali pirates since 2012 — came as little surprise to John Steed of the Oceans Beyond Piracy campaign group. International naval patrols and anti-piracy measures on …

Jean – Philippe Bittencourt, is the general manager for Sheraton Kampala Hotel. He spoke to The Independent’s Julius Businge on the prospects of Uganda’s hotel industry. How would you describe the 50 years journey of Sheraton Kampala Hotel? It is a landmark in our lives and we will continue to …

Libyans vow to take on Uganda after `quitting’ It is not clear what the Uganda government’s plan is since it announced that the Libyan owners of Uganda Telecom Ltd (UTL) have quit, but the move might get dirty if the Libyans instead implement a fight for the company. The government …

Fine Spinners (Uganda) Limited has taken over management and assets of Phoenix Logistics in a move government says will revamp the operations of the factory. The State Minister for Micro Finance Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo  said garments company Phoenix Logistics has been running at a sub optimal level and needs to improve …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Electric light railway tracks soar over Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, a rare example of mass transit infrastructure on a continent ruled by ramshackle, diesel-spewing buses. But despite government promises, the roads below are still clogged with traffic 14 months after the light rail system’s opening, …