Business – Page 43

Aug272020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Endangered Uganda’s Gorillas Impacted by Covid.

Business, FEATURED, NEWS, Tourism, TRAVEL

A Ugandan silverback gorilla called Rafiki is one of countless animals that has fallen victim to poachers as the effects of coronavirus hit the east African country. At the start of June this year wildlife rangers noticed that Rafiki had disappeared. After a search they found his body. Rafiki had been killed by a poacher who claimed the animal charged at him and the killing was an act of self-defence. The poacher was sentenced to 11 years in jail. Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a veterinarian and CEO of the NGO, Conservation Through Public Health, is Uganda's leading expert on gorillas. She knows every ape at the reserve. She believes Rafiki did not attack. "We think that when this poacher came and found Rafiki, he may have got scared, because he's never been that close to a g...

Aug262020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

GEMS Cambridge School to close Operations in Uganda.

Business, Education, FEATURED, NEWS

Owing to COVID-19 pandemic life and businesses around the globe are being affected, GEMS Cambridge International School, Kampala (CIK) will close business in Uganda in December. According to Mr Riz Ahmed, the chief executive officer, GEMS Africa; the decision to close the school that was established in Uganda in 2013, was made after exhausting all options. Students outside Classroom He said in a statement that the pandemic and the resulting uncertainties have proved “exceptionally testing” with shrinking enrolment numbers as well as their ability to sustain operations. “As a result of these circumstances, we have been forced to make some very difficult decisions, and it is with great sadness that I am writing to advise you that CIK will close after the first term of the new ac...

Aug252020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Uganda ‘not interested’ in another virus lockdown

Business, FEATURED, NEWS

Ministry of Health confirms 97 new COVID-19 cases, pushing caseload to 2,263 Uganda has announced it is "not interested" in a new lockdown despite a recent spike in coronavirus infections. “As government, we are not interested in another lockdown because people’s lives are obviously affected,” NTV-Uganda quoted information minister Judith Nabakooba as saying in a video report on Sunday. The remarks came two days after Minister for Kampala Betty Amongi issued an ultimatum to Kampala residents to comply with the SOPs else recommendations proposing a lockdown will be forwarded to President Yoweri Museveni. A lockdown was imposed in Uganda by the end of March. Masks became mandatory in public in May while restrictions started to ease in July. The Ministry of Health confirmed ...

Aug252020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Mbarara Tycoon Balya’s Sons Arrested.

Business, FEATURED, NEWS

The sons claim that their fathers building was sealed off by mafias without any legal documents. Two sons of a tycoon in Mbarara City have been arrested following Sunday morning fracas between security guards and “kayanmas”. Arnold Balya and Ambrose Balya had earlier stormed Balya Mall demanding that Saracen guards allow them to access their father’s building which was taken over by Orient Bank over unpaid debt of sh9bn. The building belongs to Apollo Balya Muhumuza. Tycoon Apollo Balya Arnold and Ambrose claimed their fathers building was taken over by mafias without any court order. The police swung into action after Balya men used trailers and other vehicles to block all the roads, cutting off access to Mbarara City. Earlier, security guards fired live bullets to disp...

Aug242020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

GLOBAL Coaches Ltd

Business, FEATURED, NEWS, Rwanda

NOTICE The management of GLOBAL Coaches Ltd has come to learn of a false statement regarding the closure of our operations due to a rise in the Covid19 cases around the country. This is to inform our esteemed clients and general public to treat those messages as falsehoods. GLOBAL COACHES is committed to providing high class passenger services while following the SOP's and guidelines against Covid19. We shall therefore be conducting our operations as per the existing guidelines until advised otherwise by the government of Uganda. Thank you for your support. Management, Global Coaches Global Coaches Kampala To Mbarara Contacts, Booking, Offices, Tickets & Timetable Global Coaches Company Limited is a passenger transportation company which is based in...

Aug152020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Bank of Uganda Names Banks with Lowest Interest Rates.

Business, FEATURED, NEWS

By Keefa Nuwahereza Bank of Uganda has named commercial banks charged borrowers lowest rates between January and June 2020, effectively making them the cheapest lenders for debtors to run to. Absa bank, Baroda, Bank of India, Citibank, Ecobank, NC Bank, Stanbic Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, United Bank of Africa, and Exim Bank kept their lending rates below industry average in the first six months of the year according to the Bank of Uganda’s monetary policy report for August 2020. In January 2020, the industry average lending rates were at 20.06 percent and it had dropped to 17.2 percent in June. Citibank had the cheapest rate consistently below 15 percent. However, Citibank doesn’t lend to individual customers. Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic bank also had lower rates ...

Aug132020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

TDB, partners commits $1m to agribusiness SMEs in East Africa

Business, Latest News

The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) SME Programme announced the signing of an initial 4-year senior/ mezzanine debt facility of $1 million to be managed by Grassroots Business Fund (GBF), to finance agribusiness SMEs in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The facility will focus on women or youth-led missing middle SMEs operating in the agricultural sector with solid managerial foundations and high potential for social impact. The transaction is enhanced with a partial risk guarantee from the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) of 50% with up to 75% in the case of women-led SMEs. The facility will be blended with two technical assistance contributions from TDB and AGF totalling $110,000 for the execution of mutually agreed upon co-funded investee capacity building activitie...

Aug72020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Kenya Pushes Ahead With Leasing Public Sugar Companies

Business, FEATURED

By Keefa Nuwahereza The government of Kenya has embarked on a campaign to offer 25-year leases on five loss-making sugar mills in western Kenya This was after authorities observing that privately owned sugar companies have steadily increased their market share over the last decade It should be noted that nationalisation is only justified if an industry is a monopoly which could be abused by a private operator seeking super-profits. Occasionally it may be necessary in the national interest to rescue a strategic company such as Kenya Airways. The state should not get involved in an industry where the private sector operates efficiently and profitably. Three weeks ago the government asked for bids to lease five state-owned sugar mills—Chemelil, Miwani, Muhoroni, Nzoia and Sout...

Aug72020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

S.Africa Mobile Giant MTN Exits Middle East To Focus On Africa Due To COVID-19 Impact

Business, FEATURED

By Our Reporter Africa's largest mobile operator, and South African telecom giant MTN, announced Thursday it would pull out of the Middle East in the medium term, to concentrate on its pan-African strategy resolving to simplify its portfolio and exit its Middle Eastern assets in an orderly fashion. The group will scrap its interim dividend under a blueprint to navigate the coronavirus pandemic - which posed an unprecedented socio and macroeconomic challenge rendering trading conditions difficult. MTN CEO, Rob Shuter, mentioned strong results during the COVID-19 period in his statement, singling out great performances in Nigeria, Ghana and home base South Africa. The company which was founded in 1994, lists operations in Sudan, Syria, Yemen and - as well as Iran and Afghanista...

Jul312020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Huawei’s Catherine Chen: Shared Responsibility For A Shared Future

Business, FEATURED

By Our reporter Huawei Corporate Senior Vice President and Director of the Board Catherine Chen delivered a keynote speech at the online Better World Summit 2020 and according to Chen, telecom regulators across many nations and industries must work together to address the shared challenges that have emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and create a more inclusive future for all. Other speakers at the summit included representatives from the International Telecommunication Union Radio communication Sector (ITU-R), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA), the South African Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, Thailand's Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission, China's...