Business

Better business climate Uganda’s ranking in the 2017 World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business has improved by seven places, a development that shows that ongoing business environment reforms being implemented by the government are starting to bear fruit. Uganda now ranks 115th out of the 190 assessed economies, which is …

The major commercial banks in the country have released statements, lowering their prime lending rates, the lowest lending rates for the best customers to between 21% and 23% per annum. This is in response to Bank of Uganda’s recent decision to lower the Central Bank Rate last month from 14% …

Global taxi service operator struggles over unmet expectations Uber drivers, or partners as the company likes to call them, in Kampala held a meeting with Uber managers on Oct. 18 to address teething challenges the global transporter is facing since it launched in June. Top of the list during the …

New Delhi, India | AFP | Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain would become the ultimate free trade champion as she laid the groundwork Monday for a potential post-Brexit deal with India, the world’s fastest growing major economy. In her first bilateral trip outside Europe since taking office in July, …

Uganda, Russia reach understanding to harness huge Uranium deposits to produce thousands of mega watts from nuclear energy It’s now official; Uganda’s plan to develop nuclear as a source of electricity is on course. On Oct. 13, a Russian government delegation was in Uganda to meet President Yoweri Museveni.  The …

Shanghai, China | AFP | China Monday replaced finance minister Lou Jiwei, state media reported, with some analysts predicting more fiscal stimulus in the world’s second-largest economy. Lou was relieved of his duties and replaced by 59-year-old Xiao Jie, the deputy secretary-general of the State Council, or cabinet, Xinhua news …

With the Crane Bank being placed under Central Bank management and several other commercial banks being asked to recapitalise, the banking sector in Uganda seems to be under a lot of stress lately. What seems to have brought down Crane Bank does not seem to be a Crane Bank problem …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP |  Algeria’s state energy company Sonatrach on Sunday awarded the China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation (CPECC) a 380-million-euro ($420-million) contract to renovate its Algiers refinery. CPECC, which is affiliated to the China National Petroleum Corporation, will rehabilitate the refinery after Sonatrach severed an initial deal …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese security agents seized all copies of three newspapers Sunday, a journalists’ association said, just days after they covered a fuel price hike in reports seen as critical of the government. Members of the powerful National Intelligence and Security Service, or NISS, took copies of …

New York, United States | AFP | New York’s state bank regulator fined the giant Agricultural Bank of China $215 million on Friday for violating anti-money laundering laws and obscuring suspicious transactions involving Russia, China, Afghanistan and other countries. Citing a deliberate failure to scrutinize dubious money transfers, the Department …