Browsing: Business

With Uganda’s green SMEs starved of funding, Equity Bank is racing to develop climate-smart loan products. Backed by EU-supported training, the bank is positioning itself at the center of a rapidly expanding sustainable finance market.

Uganda has avoided crisis—for now. But the World Bank’s latest warning is clear: the danger ahead is not collapse, but slow erosion. Rising debt, cautious investors, and millions of young people searching for work are squeezing the country’s options. The next decade will be shaped by choices made at home, not luck abroad.

Global incomes are up, markets are calmer, and the crisis years appear to be fading. But the World Bank says millions across Africa are still worse off than before COVID-19, exposing a recovery that lifted some—and left others behind.

Uganda closed 2025 with inflation holding steady at 3.1 percent, offering policymakers a sense of stability. But behind the headline figure, rising food, fuel, education, and health costs are reshaping daily life for households. A closer look at the December 2025 CPI reveals why inflation feels uneven—and why 2026 may demand targeted policy action.

Bank of Uganda Governor Dr Michael Atingi-Ego has paid an emotional but pointed tribute to the late Prof Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, calling him the architect of Uganda’s economic stability and a guiding force in moments of crisis. Speaking at the Tusiime Mutebile Annual Public Lecture at Makerere University, Atingi-Ego outlined how the central bank is now expanding Mutebile’s legacy through innovation—using digital tools, modern payment systems and fintech inclusion to strengthen Uganda’s economic resilience.

A new study by the Economic Policy Research Centre warns that the European Union’s deforestation-free trade rules—designed to protect forests—may end up hurting small coffee farmers in Uganda and Indonesia. With strict traceability demands and rising compliance costs, researchers say millions of growers risk losing access to Europe’s market unless the policy is implemented more gradually and with stronger support for producing countries.

Uganda Revenue Authority has begun enforcing long-standing laws requiring tax residents to declare income earned anywhere in the world. Backed by new global data-sharing systems, the URA is now targeting foreign salaries, rentals, digital earnings, and offshore accounts previously kept out of sight. As transparency tightens, millions of Ugandans earning abroad—whether openly or quietly—must now comply or face penalties, interest, and retrospective assessments.

Uganda’s economy turned a quiet corner in October 2025. With inflation easing, the Shilling firming up, and exports surging by over 35%, the data paints a hopeful picture. But experts warn that these gains are fragile—heavily dependent on volatile commodity markets and challenged by high borrowing costs. This report unpacks the numbers, the narrative, and the stakes.

In Uganda’s bustling markets, bales of second-hand clothes tell a story of survival and struggle. A new Gateway Research Centre report reveals a billion-shilling paradox — a sector that sustains hundreds of thousands of young traders yet frustrates the government’s dream of industrial self-reliance. As policymakers push for bans and higher taxes, experts warn that killing the trade before building local capacity could leave millions worse off.

As Uganda’s job market evolves and formal employment structures take shape, a quiet legal battle is unfolding in boardrooms. Non-compete clauses—once seen as tools to protect business secrets—are now raising questions about fairness, innovation, and economic growth. Prosper Ahabwe Julian examines whether these clauses are a necessary safeguard for employers or a subtle barrier holding back the nation’s brightest talents.