East African Business Notifier

Mahmoud Mohieldin CAIRO – For decades, the international community has operated under the illusion that climate action and development are different pursuits, each with its own goals, institutions, and funding mechanisms. This approach has hindered progress on both agendas. The world leaders gathered in Belém, Brazil, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) must recognize this and begin transforming the fragmented, underperforming climate-finance system into an integrated framework that delivers on both climate and development objectives. As they embark on this process, it is worth considering the main takeaways from  Policy-Driven Climate and Development Finance: Strategies for Equitable Solutions , the forthcoming volume of essays that I edited. While making the global financial architecture more equitable and efficient is a long-term project, delegates at COP30 can take important steps forward. First, they must deliver a replicable and scalable model for climate...

Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe ADDIS ABABA – At the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2), which took place in Addis Ababa a couple months ago, I  delivered  a warning that every G20 government should heed: Africa cannot finance its future while drowning in debt. The numbers speak for themselves: Sub-Saharan Africa requires  $143 billion  in annual climate finance, equivalent to roughly 7% of its  total GDP . But current  climate-finance flows  into the region amount to only one-quarter of that. At the same time, African countries spent  nearly $90 billion  in 2024 servicing external debt. Africa’s debt crisis is not a fringe issue; it is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving global climate goals and advancing the continent’s development. Every dollar that African countries spend on interest payments is a dollar that could have been invested in climate resilience and sustainable development, including adaptation measures and clean-energy infras...

KCB Bank Uganda Limited today announced a major achievement, securing the highly sought-after ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification.  This globally recognised standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) places KCB Bank Uganda at the forefront of financial institutions dedicated to safeguarding customer data and ensuring top-tier operational resilience. The rigorous certification process, which involved a thorough independent audit by CERTITRUST, confirmed the bank's adherence to international best practices in managing sensitive information.  This success was powered by a strategic partnership with SENTINEL AFRICA, whose expertise spearheaded the ISMS implementation and provided advanced training to the KCB team as certified Lead Implementers and Lead Auditors. Speaking at the certification handover ceremony at the KCB Bank Uganda Headquarters, Edgar Byamah, Managing Director of KCB Bank Uganda, emphasised the significance of the award. "This ISO/IEC 27001:2022 cert...

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) cemented their partnership on 30 October, with a scientific field meeting on Switzerland’s Jungfraujoch to raise awareness about melting snow and ice. Held atop the Great Aletsch Glacier, one of the most iconic glaciers on the planet and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the event brought together glaciologists, winter sport professionals and climate scientists to discuss the accelerating impacts of climate change and, particularly, of glacier loss. “The ripple effect of climate change on every aspect of society is truly terrifying. It turns out that the realm of snow sports — not only at a competitive level, but for all the communities that revolve around ski resorts — is among the first to experience this devastating impact directly,” said FIS CEO Urs Lehmann. “FIS truly believes that skiing and snowboarding can play a significant role not only in raising awareness, but also in taking act...

  By Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani - CEO, EnergyInc Advisors ( www.EnergyIncAdvisors.com ) /Global Energy Finance and Strategy Leader  With COP30 underway in Belém, Brazil, the global community is once again confronted with the urgency of climate action. For Africa however, the conversation must begin with a more fundamental question:  how do we power the continent so that climate ambition does not outpace development reality? While advanced economies frame climate progress around how quickly they can retire fossil fuels, Africa’s challenge is more foundational. Millions still lack reliable electricity. Without power, factories cannot operate, digital economies cannot thrive, and essential services - from hospitals to schools - remain constrained. Energy access is not merely a development aspiration. It is the bedrock upon which climate adaptation, resilience, and long-term economic transformation rest. A transition that must be sequenced, not rushed Africa’s clean energy poten...

Juan Manuel Santos BOGOTÁ – On my first day in office as Colombia’s president just over 15 years ago, I met with the leaders of four indigenous peoples in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta – the Kogui, Arhuaco, Wiwa, and Kankuamo.  As we stood together in the shadow of a magnificent mountain range next to the Caribbean Sea, the wisdom they imparted transformed how I viewed my responsibilities as a leader. It also changed how I saw our collective duty as transitory inhabitants of this increasingly bruised planet. I was given a wooden baton – a symbol of power – to remind me to strive toward two goals: peace among our citizens after 50 years of conflict, and peace with nature.  he indigenous leaders warned me that our relationship with the natural world had been harmed, that nature was angry, and that we would suffer the consequences. Two weeks later, La Niña hit Colombia with devastating floods, and I spent the first two years of my administration supporting those affected and p...

The Stanbic Business Incubator Limited (SBIL) has signed a new grant agreement with the Embassy of France in Uganda to finance the Green Tech Incubator and Accelerator for Entrepreneurship Program. The program, which targets the youth and women in the Kampala Metropolitan Area and the Albertine Region, aims to promote the development of a green, resilient and highly innovative economy. The French Ambassador, Mrs. Virginie Leroy and Catherine Poran, the SBIL Chief Executive signed the agreement at the Embassy in Kampala on Tuesday. In her remarks, Ambassador Leroy said, “The project will support more than 200 Ugandan youth and women Small and Micro-Enterprises in sectors like sustainable cities, green mobility, circular economy, waste management, renewable energies, water and health, and smart agro/agri technologies, by strengthening their capacities, facilitating their access to finance and markets and creating an environment that fosters their growth.” The Stanbic Green Tech Accelerat...

BY PAUL TENTENA Uganda’s petroleum sector has recorded an important milestone with an increase in its oil and gas resource estimates.  This was confirmed by Ernest Rubondo, the Executive Director the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) during a media engagement on ten years of regulatory stewardship of Uganda’s oil and gas sector. The updated resource assessments now show that the country’s recoverable resources have increased from 1.4 billion to 1.65 billion barrels.   Rubondo revealed that the increase was mainly as a result of updated evaluation of the existing oil and gas discoveries in the Albertine Graben, owing to the enhanced data portfolio within oil and gas discovery and development areas. “The Authority reviews technical data submitted by the licensed oil company and uses this information to estimate the country’s petroleum resource endowment. The description of the resources is professionally undertaken using internationally established standards,” Rubondo said. He...

Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services across 14 African countries, has selected Nokia to build a transformative, high-capacity terrestrial fiber network spanning East and Central Africa for its cutting-edge fiber service, Airtel Africa Telesonic. This development is especially critical for landlocked countries like Uganda.    The strategic project aims to connect multiple African countries and link submarine cables to terrestrial networks, significantly enhancing digital connectivity across the continent.  For Uganda, this terrestrial link is the sole, high-speed artery connecting the nation's digital economy to the global internet backbone.  It will contribute towards boosting economic growth and improving the quality of life for communities on the continent by providing affordable and reliable digital infrastructure. The project, which was unveiled at the ongoing 28th edition of AfricaCom, the largest gathering of Af...