Uganda’s financial system is now robust enough to adequately identify and fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism, prompting the country’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List of countries that face challenges of illicit money transfers.

In a statement to the press, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija said Uganda’s exit from the FATF and the International Cooperation Review Group (FATF/ICRG) review process means the country will no longer be subjected to the FATF’s on-going Global Ant-Money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) compliance processes, easing the way for correspondent banking and other investment and financial flows in the country.

“All countries are required to periodically update the FATF Secretariat on the steps they have taken in that regard. Therefore, being on the FATF Grey List amounted to an indictment on Uganda’s financial system and was therefore a major constraint to correspondent banking; Foreign Direct Investment; and other financial flows to and from Uganda, and thus presented a significant risk to our quest to accelerate economic growth and development outcomes,” Minister Kasaija says.

According to the Minister, FATF urged Uganda to continue working with the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to sustain improvements in, and effectiveness of, Uganda’s Anti Money Laundering /CFT Regime.

Minister Kasaija says to fight money laundering, government has adequately criminalized terrorist financing, as well as establishing and implementing an adequate legal framework for identifying, tracing and freezing terrorist assets.

He says government has ensured effective record keeping requirements as well as put in place a fully operational Financial Intelligence Unit.

Among others, he says government has ensured appropriate laws and procedures with regard to international cooperation for the FIU and supervisory authorities.

According to Kasaija, Uganda has signed and ratified all the relevant UN Conventions on money laundering, put in place  The Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2017, Anti-Terrorism Act, 2002 has been amended and The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Act, 2015. He says government also has laws that govern capital markets and insurance sector as it fights money laundering, not leaving out laws to curb narcotic drugs business.

According to the statement, the Financial Intelligence Authority, in collaboration with other government agencies has put up ML /FT National Risk Assessment (NRA), which provides recommendations and an Action Plan and assigns specific responsibilities to particular public and private entities with respect to AML/CFT.

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Uganda’s preparations to drill oil by 2020 has put it in the limelight, with the country landing an invite to attend the forthcoming OPEC meeting in Russia as an observer, the Energy minister Irene Muloni has said.

“We’ve received an invitation from OPEC to attend their meetings as observers. This is going to be the longest heated pipeline in the world,” Ms. Muloni said in Kampala at an oil and mineral stakeholders meeting.

Two weeks from now, countries that produce  more than half the world’s oil gather in Vienna, Austria  to discuss extending the production cuts that helped lift prices to two-year highs.

According to the sources, preparations for the Nov 30, 2017 meeting in the Austrian capital begin one week earlier, with a workshop to discuss the outlook for shale oil followed by the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ Economic Commission (OPEC) Board. This panel of representatives from member countries, which discusses the market before every ministerial meeting, will focus on forecasts for demand this winter, including consideration of the International Energy Agency’s estimate for weaker-than-expected fuel consumption, another delegate said.

The invitation to Uganda to attend the OPEC meeting comes at the time when the country is in critical stages of building a refinery as well as an oil export pipeline to the Tanzania Indian Sea Port of Tanga. Uganda is estimated to have proven crude oil reserves of 6.5 billion barrels, about 2.2 billion of which is recoverable. The refinery is expected to produce 60,000 barrels of oil per day.

At the meeting, apart from playing the observer role, Ugandan delegates are expected to court other oil investors interested in taking part in its oil sub sector.

In August 2017, a new consortium led by General Electric of the United States and JK Minerals South Africa agreed to build the US$4 billion refinery and to own 50 percent and JK Minerals Africa to own 10 percent, while the government of Uganda and other investors take up the remaining 40 percent.

Other members in this new consortium are; Yaatra Ventures LLC,  Intracontinent Asset Holdings and Saipem SpA of Italy. “The firms were competitors during the initial bidding. However, the came together and formed a special purpose vehicle, the Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium (AGRC), which is expected to design, procure the necessary supplies and build the refinery,” a source says.

A report says that the government of Uganda has proposed that the remaining 40.0 percent be divided among itself, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania in equal shares except that Uganda would assume whatever ownership interests are not subscribed by the other countries.

Kenya has agreed to purchase a 2.5 percent interest in the refinery for an estimated KES5.6 billion. It has not decided whether to increase that interest to the maximum of 8.0 percent, saying that it needs to further evaluate the project’s commercial value in light of the government’s budgetary constraints.

Burundi and Rwanda have submitted letters of interest to Uganda, but the former has not decided the extent of its ownership interest, waiting on the feasibility study of the refinery and a detailed statement of anticipated costs.

Tanzania has committed to pay US$150.4 million for 8 percent ownership in the refinery.

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Veteran comedian and media personality Patriko Mujuuka has been unveiled by Equity Bank Uganda as brand ambassador beating off competition from 18 other candidates.

While unveiling Mujuuka, Anthony Kituuka, Equity Bank’s Executive Director revealed that it wasn’t an easy job zeroing up on the actor who currently plies his trade on CBS radio.

“We spent a lot of time looking at people that can communicate to Ugandans what exactly Equity Bank is about and finally we zeroed on Patriko Mujuuka. He is a strong brand and has a strong personality,” Kituuka told the press at the Bank’s new home, Equity Bank Supreme branch, located along Buganda Road, Kampala.

Mr. Kituuka added that during their partnership, Mujuuka will be responsible for reaching out to their clients because, “he cuts across a wide range of potential customers including; lawyers, farmers and students among others”.

“We have already taken him to Nairobi to get knowledge about the group. At Equity Bank, we remain creative and innovative,” Kituuka added.

Accepting his new role, the excited Mujuuka said he was glad to have been appointed Equity Bank ambassador and was optimistic he would execute it perfectly because his new role falls in his day-to-day life.

“I’m glad Equity Bank chose me to represent them as brand ambassador. Equity bank is a big brand and it’s going to grow bigger and bigger with the new innovations coming in.”

At the time of his appointment, Equity Bank had just launched new innovations among which include an online banking application, the EazzyBanking App, which is intended to make banking easy, convenient and secure for Ugandans.

According to Equity Bank’s Managing Director Samuel Kirubi, this will also facilitate financial inclusion thus helping many mature citizens to access and afford financial services.

“Equity Bank has also started Agency Banking to extend financial services to people. We are positioning our agents in all corners in the country. And with the The EazzyBanking app, customers will not need to go to the bank to get banking services. The app will bring the whole bank on your phone. Basically people should embrace digital banking because it saves costs and time. The costs have been minimized to just buying data bundles on your phone,” Kirubi added.

Equity Bank’s WazzyBanking app allows one to transfer funds to other accounts and mobile wallets or pay utility bills like Umeme and Water, among other banking services.

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