Tag Archives: economy

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Social Security Fund forecasts it will pay members less than 10 percent interest down from the double-digit interest rate that it has paid over the last several years after their operations were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The final interest rate …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The financial sector recorded a big jump in electronic transactions over the last year boosted by the lockdown that was induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to sector players. The economy was largely shutdown in March with the government banning most activities like public …

United Nations | XINHUA | United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for political will and bold action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Public appetite for transformative change is growing, he said in his opening remarks at the SDG Moment 2020. “But one critical ingredient is …

Bank of Uganda should utilize its mandate to regulate spending during 2021 electoral processes COMMENT | Fred Kasalirwe | The recently concluded National Resistance Movement (NRM) primaries have seen massive monetization of the electoral processes with huge sums of money seen exchanging hands to influence voters’ decisions. If this is just …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Knowledge gaps and the high costs of doing business remain a major hindrance to Uganda’s economic growth as most business enterprises started in the country do not survive beyond their first birthday. Ronnie Mulongo, manager Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) says that some entrepreneurs lack …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda shilling has started losing its strength against the US Dollar in a reverse trend that had seen the local currency remain strong during and after the lockdown period. In a trend that surprised observers, the shilling held steady when diaspora remittances, offshore …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The East Africa Community (EAC) secretariat and its partner states have unveiled a new mobile application to enable the issuance of the EAC COVID-19 digital certificates that are mutually recognised by the partner states. The app dubbed the Regional Electronic Cargo and Driver Tracking System …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The African Union (AU) is planning to put in place a guarantee scheme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) to speed up the continent’s economic transformation, an official said on Wednesday. Amine Idriss Adoume, director in charge of delivery program and coordination at the …

Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO) said on Wednesday it has jointly launched a 14.3 million U.S. dollar intervention program to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on the continent’s coffee sector. IACO said it has teamed up with the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and the Center …

Tokyo, Japan | XINHUA | Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday announced his resignation over health issues, catching the country by surprise and sending two major stock indexes tumbling in Tokyo. Japan’s economy is already in deep recession amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the sudden resignation of the prime …