East African Business Notifier

  By Charles Masano Picture this: cherished local series like Sanyu , Crossroads , and Beloved  suddenly disappearing from your screens, or missing out on exhilarating sports events like the FIFA World Cup or the Euros.  This isn't just a distant nightmare; it’s a possible future if we don’t take a stand against content piracy, an escalating threat to even Uganda’s creative industries. Content piracy might seem like a harmless shortcut, like streaming a show from an unofficial site, but it has devastating consequences for Africa’s entertainment sector. Piracy is when someone illegally copies, sells or redistributes content. Many people who engage in piracy don’t realize the severe impact their actions have on the industry. When piracy thrives, producers earn less, leaving them with fewer resources to invest in new projects, cutting-edge technology, and fresh talent. This financial strain discourages investors, who lose confidence in the local creative sector due...

The Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) has unveiled a groundbreaking initiative to encourage traders in Kampala’s business hub, popularly known as Kikuubo, to transition from trading in imported products to manufacturing them locally.  The “Transitioning Kikuubo Traders to Manufacturing” initiative” is hinged on the spirit of promoting import substitution, the initiative is to enable traders who have been trading in imported products for many years to seize import substitution opportunities and incentives that come with them like zero tax rates, free industrial park land and tax holidays, amongst others.  The Director General of the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), Robert Mukiza, announced the initiative on Tuesday (July 30) during a meeting at UIA head office with traders from Kikuubo and officials from the Global Competitiveness Initiative (GCI) and the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID).  Mukiza said a special desk...

TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with Scatec, a Norwegian renewable energy company, to acquire 100% of its subsidiary SN Power, which holds interests in renewable hydropower projects in Africa, through a joint venture (51% SN Power) with Norfund and British International Investment (BII).  As a result of this transaction, which is subject to certain previous conditions, TotalEnergies will acquire a 28.3% stake in the Bujagali hydropower plant currently in operation in Uganda.  With a capacity of 250 MW, it covers more than 25% of the country's peak electricity demand. TotalEnergies will also acquire minority stakes in two projects under development in Rwanda (260 MW) and Malawi (360 MW).  “This acquisition of renewable hydroelectric assets and projects in Africa reflects our desire to contribute to the continent's energy transition by bringing electricity to the people of African countries. In particular, we are delighted to be able to become a player in hydro...

Earlier this month, Hurricane Beryl swept through the Caribbean, flattening entire islands and causing “ Armageddon-like ” destruction. As the   earliest   Category 5 Atlantic storm to form in the Atlantic Ocean, it marks the beginning of what is   forecasted   to be the most active hurricane season on record. This is undoubtedly a climate disaster. The torrential rainfall and 150-mile-per-hour winds that flattened the islands of Carriacou, Petit Martinique, and the Grenadines archipelago, along with the storm surge that hammered the coasts of Barbados and Jamaica, were up to  10-30% more intense  due to human-driven climate change. Hurricane Beryl’s aftermath should concern financial institutions as much as it does climate scientists, because it reveals how our patchwork development-finance system – designed when extreme weather events were far less catastrophic – is falling short in the face of increasingly frequent and intense storms, floods, and wildfir...

The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), at the University of the Western Cape, in collaboration with the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC) have concluded a five day short course on the Political Economy of Land Governance in Africa. “The aim of this short course was to equip leaders to resolve the land challenges facing the continent because the majority of both rural and urban residents have insecure tenure rights, either in law or in practice,” said Joan Kagwanja, ALPC Coordinator. “Land challenges in Africa can only be addressed by building a highly skilled cohort of land professionals and land policy makers,” added Ms. Kagwanja. ALPC is an initiative of the African Union Commission, UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank, focused on a range of stakeholders, experts on land reforms and governance were trained on various themes and concepts that include pre-colonial and colonial histories of customary and statutory land tenur...

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) has published a white paper examining the state of natural disasters in Africa. The paper titled   “The State of Natural Disasters in Africa” , sheds light on a growing concern: the increased frequency of weather-related natural disasters and their devastating economic impact on the continent.  Over the last decade, the frequency of disasters has steadily increased, rising from 32 incidents in 2014 to 56 occurrences in 2023, mainly due to floods, in 29 African countries where data is available. It is estimated that African governments spent $2.2 billion managing weather-related natural disasters in 2023, with approximately 25% attributable to Libya, which accounts for over 0.5% of Libya’s GDP. Climate change underlies the more frequent and severe weather events like droughts and floods, causing significant loss of life, destruction of livelihoods, and displacement of communities. Analysing the economic burden of weather disasters on African nati...

  BY PAUL TENTENA Rita Namakika Namono, the Chairperson of the Insurance Appeals Tribunal has said continued lack of trust and confidence and vague policy documents from insurers to their customers will continue to affect the rate of insurance penetration in Uganda. Namono who was speaking during the Inaugural Bancassurance Thought Leaders Forum that was conducted under the theme: “A Reflection of Insurance in Uganda: There is value in partnering with your financial institution/bank for insurance services added that there is also poor client relations between insurers and their clients as they do not explain to them the full details or thoroughly what entails in the policies being offered. “What we have noted as the Insurance Appeals Tribunal is that Insurance Companies do not explain thoroughly to their customers what entails in the policies offered. Many policy documents from insurers are vague and also there is no trust and confidence in insurance by people,” said Namon...

  Despite the access to financial services that mobile money has introduced across Africa, a significant portion of the population remains unbanked and underserved. Data sharing holds the key to unlock the continents vast economic potential. Financial institutions have traditionally relied on conventional credit histories and collateral to assess customers’ risk profiles, often excluding those without formal profiles in the process. However, alternative data sharing allows for a more nuanced understanding.  By analysing data from mobile money transactions, utility payments and even airtime purchases, institutions can now assess risk and creditworthiness, empowering previously excluded individuals to access financial products and services. Access to credit is crucial – our Consumer Pulse Study from Q2 2024, conducted in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and Zambia showed the vast majority of consumers responding that access to credit and lending products is essential for achievi...

Recent election victories for leftist parties in France and the United Kingdom may herald a new era of climate policymaking in Europe.  Britain’s new Labour government has ambitious   plans   to expand renewable-energy capacity; and, although tricky coalition building remains, the   climate-skeptic far right   has been thwarted in France. One hopes this momentum can be carried into the G20 ministerial meeting in Rio de Janeiro on  July 24 . There, rich countries will consider Brazil’s pioneering  proposal  for a 2% annual minimum wealth tax on the world’s billionaires.  Such a tax, along with new  climate-financing instruments  that are expected to be announced, could support investments in green growth, climate adaptation, and measures to address inequality within countries. But new investment vehicles will not suffice. As our experience with COVID-19 showed, purely market-based approaches were not enough to tackle a pandemic, nor ...

To enable them explore trade opportunities across the region, more than 150 cassava farmers and SMEs involved in different stages of the value chain in Arua District have gone through a 4-day extensive training under the PostBank Agri-SME Skills Development Programme, facilitated in partnership with Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (FSME) with the aim of equipping them with value addition skills. The training session involved 3 days of technical training that took place at Kabia and Sons Millers where the farmers had a hands-on learning session at the plant gaining knowledge on the entire process of producing cassava flour, proper post-harvest handling to maintain quality, and good manufacturing practices and an overall approach to value addition on their cassava produce with the required quality so that they can explore regional trade opportunities. The final day of the training involved a financial literacy session led by the team from PostBank Arua branch to ensure that fa...