Uganda Business News | Uganda Business News 38

Africa needs a surge in entrepreneurship

An overhead view of Kikuubo, Kampala's busiest market

Limited access to finance has been cited as a binding constraint on African economic development, but what if the chronic shortage of entrepreneurs is equally limiting?

Fitch cuts GDP forecast on lower government spending, fall in net exports

Street scene outside a luggage shop in downtown Kampala

Economy to grow slower in 2023 than previously expected, as government spending slows and net exports fall, according to global research firm BMI

Tips for borrowing money: What’s acceptable and what’s not

A young woman sitting at a table with a laptop, several notebooks, and a calculator

While the holidays may tempt you to let your financial guard down, it’s important to reflect on your financial portfolio to avoid sinking deeper into debt

Jumia to close food delivery business

A Jumia delivery motorcylist on his way to deliver an order. The ecommerce group with operations across Africa announced on 13 December that it would close its unprofitable food delivery business by the close of 2023 and focus on the delivery of physical goods and its digital wallet. It said it had determined that Jumia Food was not suited to “the current operating environment and macroeconomic conditions in its markets” and would be shut down in all seven countries where it is offered. Jumia Pay has failed to turn a profit since its launch in 2013, the company said.

In a bid to cut losses, Jumia is downsizing, cutting costs, and shutting down its unprofitable food delivery business

US response to Uganda’s anti-gay law and persistent human rights violations

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel hosts an honour guard to welcome Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni to the Pentagon for a meeting 27 September 2013

US government, at the direction of President Biden, published an account of all the actions it has taken in response to the Anti-Homosexuality Act and other human rights concerns

Private sector credit slows in October

Entrance to the personal banking section of a bank

Pace of bank lending to the private sector also slowed down, after having risen to a four-month high in September

Ionic Rare Earths increases stake in Makuutu project to 94%, says deal will ease financing negotiations

Ionic Rare Earths Limited workers at the Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Eastern Uganda. Ionic Rare Earths Limited, the Australian mining company, has acquired an additional 34 per cent interest in Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited, the owner of the Makuutu Rare Earths Project, bringing its majority interest in the project to 94 per cent, as it prepares for small-scale production in a few months' time.

Mine expected to start production in first quarter next year, albeit small scale and for potential customers and off-takers

Trade deficit gets gold boost

Entebbe International Airport, Uganda's sole international airport

A 96.6% annual increase in goods exports, boosted by gold exports, led to a narrowing of the external trade deficit

Careful management of market uncertainties required to maximise returns from oil and gas

Workers at the Kingfisher Oil Field in Kikuube, Uganda, on 24 January, 2023. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni launched the drilling process at the Kingfisher Oil Field, operated by the Chinese oil giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation Cnooc.

Uganda’s oil and gas industry needs a minimum global crude oil price of $63 (Shs237,893) per barrel for maximum profitability

US sanctions prison chief over human rights abuses

Johnson Byabashaija, the commissioner general of prisons. The US has imposed financial sanctions on Johnson Byabashaija, the commissioner general of prisons, in a review and expansion of its visa restriction policy targeting Ugandan officials it says are complicit in human rights abuses.

Johnson Byabashaija heads an organisation that has tortured government critics and LGBTQI+ people