East African Business Notifier

  Airtel Uganda, in collaboration with the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the Bank of Uganda (BoU), has issued vital safety tips to help Ugandans guard against the rising wave of mobile scams. Speaking during a recent X (formerly Twitter) Space discussion hosted by Airtel Uganda under the theme “Scam Follows Spam: What Needs to Be Done to Protect Uganda’s Digital Ecosystem,” representatives from UCC and the Bank of Uganda raised concerns over the growing threats of spam, scams, and mobile money fraud urging the public to remain vigilant and informed. Uganda’s digital ecosystem is expanding rapidly, with over 50 million mobile phone users, 32 million active mobile money wallets, and 19.5 million internet subscribers. However, this growth has been paralleled by a surge in cybercrime. According to the Uganda Police Force Annual Crime Report of 2024, the country experienced a staggering 200% increase in fraud and cyber-related crimes, highlighting the urgent need for strong...

Vera Songwe, Jendayi Frazer, Peter Blair Henry STANFORD/WASHINGTON, DC – In an era of shrinking resources for development finance, global policymakers must shift their focus to making better use of existing funds. Identifying and removing regulatory barriers that hinder the efficient deployment of capital to emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) is a good place to start. The Basel III framework, developed in response to the 2008 global financial crisis, has played a crucial role in preventing another systemic collapse. But it has also inadvertently  discouraged  banks from financing infrastructure projects in EMDEs. At the same time, advanced economies, with debt-to-GDP ratios at historic highs, face mounting fiscal pressures. Servicing these debts consumes a growing share of public budgets just as governments must ramp up defense spending and boost economic competitiveness, resulting in cuts to foreign aid. Together, these pressures underscore the urgent need to m...

  The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has established a new world record for the longest lightning flash – an incredible 829 km (515 miles) in a notorious storm hotspot in the United States of America.   The megaflash occurred in October 2017, during a major thunderstorm complex. It extended from eastern Texas to near Kansas City - equivalent to the distance between Paris and Venice in Europe. It would take a car about eight to nine hours and a commercial plane at least 90 minutes to cover that distance. “Lightning is a source of wonder but also a major hazard that claims many lives around the world every year and is therefore one of the priorities for the international Early Warnings for All initiative. "These new findings highlight important public safety concerns about electrified clouds which can produce flashes which travel extremely large distances and have a major impact on the aviation sector and can spark wildfires,” said WMO Secretary-General Celest...

The Uganda Development Bank (UDB) is convening the inaugural Uganda Development Finance Summit. UDB is the country’s national Development Finance Institution (DFI). The highly anticipated Summit, scheduled for 1-2 September 2025 at the Speke Resort Convention Centre, Kampala, Uganda, will proceed under the theme,  "Transforming Africa through National Development Finance Architecture.” This flagship event will bring together over 400 high-level participants drawn from government, national financial institutions, the private sector, academia and global finance practitioners to address the need to explore new financing options and approaches to unlock Africa’s economic potential. Through inclusive dialogue and strategic collaboration, the event aims to accelerate sustainable growth, address urgent development priorities, and chart a bold and pragmatic, forward-looking path for African economies. This has become imperative, the conveners say, in the face of shrinking traditional fund...

  Africa’s lithium industry is gaining strong momentum in 2025, marked by new project launches, significant discoveries, increased capital inflows and progress in local value addition. In a major milestone for downstream development, Zimbabwe’s Verify Engineering announced in July the successful production of the country’s first locally manufactured lithium-ion battery. The development aligns with Zimbabwe’s national strategy to ban unprocessed lithium exports by 2027 – a move aimed at driving beneficiation, enhancing domestic industrial capacity and positioning the country as a competitive player in the global battery value chain. New Discoveries As the official platform for advancing Africa’s mining prospects, AMW 2025 will provide global stakeholders with key updates on the continent’s latest lithium discoveries and project developments. Among these, UK-based Aterian and global major Rio Tinto announced Rwanda’s first lithium find at the HCK Lithium Project in July 2025 – markin...

Absa and Visa have renewed their strategic partnership to accelerate the development of innovative, inclusive, secure, and digitally enabled financial payment ecosystems across Absa’s Regional Operations (ARO) which incorporates Absa’s presence outside South Africa.  The agreement, formalised at a signing ceremony in Johannesburg, marks a significant milestone in a relationship that has driven innovation and financial inclusion across the continent for many years. Anchored   in   a   shared   vision   to   transform   how   individuals   and   businesses   engage   with   financial  services, the renewed partnership will deepen collaboration across digital infrastructure expansion, small business enablement, and customer-centric innovation in the Cards and Payments domain. “This regional expansion marks an exciting new chapter in our partnership with Absa — one that continues to challenge conventions and redefine...