The Governor Bank of Uganda Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, has urged the East African Community (EAC) central banks to put in place measures that can effectively check money laundering scams in the region.

“There is need for EAC Central Banks to work together to counter terrorist financing and ensure compliance of anti-money laundering efforts,” Mutebile said Friday in Kampala during the 21st Ordinary EAC Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) Governor’s meeting at the Kampala Serena International Conference Centre.

The MAC is composed of central bank governors from the EAC Partner states of Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan. The officials are one of those in the EAC bloc tasked to steer the states into a single monetary union that should, if achieved, establish one currency to be used as a means of exchange in all the partner states.

Gov. Mutebile also while speaking said central banks needed to address the challenge of e-currency. “There is concern of growing usage of E-currency in the region which has been hard for central banks to regulate,” he said.

Talking of the EAC integration challenges, Mutebile said the slowdown of economic growth characterised by slow private sector growth and the non-performing loans were some of the factors responsible.

“There are a number of issues that have challenged our integration efforts such as slowdown of economic growth, slow private sector growth and increase of non-performance loans,” he said.

But he said MAC meeting on-going in Kampala gives an opportunity to officials to take stoke of progress attained in steering progress of East African monetary union.

While highlighting on the progress so far, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor, Patrick Njoroge said: We have made great strides towards ensuring harmonisation of our regional frameworks. Significant progress has been made on the front of establishing the requisite institutions in particular the establishment of the East African Monetary Institute and Statistics Bureau.”

Njoroge said the two institutions have been forwarded to the E.A legislative Assembly for further scrutiny, adding that CBK is remains committed to the integration process to ensure successful harmonisation of the creation of the creation of the East African Central Bank with a single currency.

John Rwangombwa, the Governor, National Bank of Rwanda said there was good cooperation among the EAC central banks in fighting cybercrimes. He said: “I’d like to appreciate the co-operation we have had as central banks in dealing with challenges such as cyber security and crypto currencies.”

The First Deputy Governor, Bank of Burundi while speaking of the monetary union progress  said his country is “engaged in the modernisation of monetary policy to align it with price based monetary policy framework.”

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The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Market Surveillance team has seized a range of flavoured drinks from Mob Investment, the producers of Maisha Mango Juice, Kigezi Bushera, Real flavored Mango Drink, and Real Flavored Orange Drink from the manufacturer’s premises along Kamuli Road in Bweyogerere.

“The UNBS team inspected the manufacturer’s premises and discovered that the conditions under which the flavored drinks were being produced were unhygienic posing a health risk to consumers and were in complete violation of Uganda Standard (US) 28:2002 on code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry,” the UNBS Deputy Executive Director in Charge of Compliance John Paul Musimami said, adding that the team acted on a tip-off from a concerned consumer.

According to Mr Musimami, such acts are criminal and endanger human health. “I would like to urge the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious elements,” he said, adding: “We shall continue to monitor the products on the market and confiscate such products from the market.’’

Meanwhile, the UNBS has confiscated 369 cartons of suspected expired confectioneries with altered expiry dates, worth Shs70 million.

The confectioneries were seized from a warehouse belonging to Luck Star Business Link in Ntinda Industrial area and the premises were sealed off, pending further investigations.

“UNBS market surveillance team seized the suspected expired confectioneries in line with our mandate to protect the public from consuming products that are likely to be harmful to their health,” Mr. Musimami said.

He added: “Besides having labels in a foreign language, which is not acceptable as per the Uganda Standard (US) EAS 38:2013 on labelling of pre-packaged foods, their products were also found with conflicting expiry dates, raising the suspicion of our market surveillance team about their actual shelf life of the products”.

He said the original expiry dates were removed using thinners and replaced with locally printed stickers, which is an offence under the UNBS Act.

“Our officials recovered locally printed stickers that were being used to re-label the packaging from the proprietor’s premises,” Mr. Musimami said.

He added: “Some other products had conflicting shelf lives. For instance, we found conflicting shelf lives of 12 months and 2 years on the same products.”

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After graduating from college in Uganda, Fatuma Namutosi focused on self-employment and entrepreneurship. She considered several agribusiness ideas, and decided on a product she believed would be profitable and nutritious—pumpkin.

Namutosi’s business acumen has caught the eyes of world leaders who have invited her to share experiences as an entrepreneur at the Global Youth Economic Oportunities Summit in Washington in September.

In 2015, Namutosi established Byeffe Foods Ltd. and began selling a variety of pumpkin-based products: pumpkin millet, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin leaves, and combination soy and rice flours that include pumpkin. Since pumpkin was a traditional source of medicine in Uganda, Namutosi had to re-establish pumpkin as a nutritious and affordable food choice to build demand for her company’s products.

In June 2016, Byeffe found the perfect opportunity to do so at AgriKool-Youth, an event organized by the Feed the Future Uganda Youth Leadership for Agriculture (YLA) Activity, where ‘agripreneurs’ showcase their business models and products.

After gaining exposure through this event, Namutosi’s business boomed. Pumpkin richness in zinc and Vitamin A led to partnerships with primary schools to supply meals.

But with growth came new challenges: Byeffe Foods was unable to meet high demand due to a limited supply of fresh pumpkins.

To address this constraint, Feed the Future partnered with Namutosi to mobilize 1,280 young contract farmers. Due to pumpkin’s low production costs and high yields, as well as Byeffe’s commitment to provide seeds and extension services, these farmers were eager to participate. At this year’s summer harvest, Namutosi expects a minimum yield of 384,000 pumpkins, which would more than quadruple her company’s supply.

Namutosi started her company with just US$140 and has transformed it into one of Uganda’s leading pumpkin producers with a net worth of US$28,000. She also employs 20 young people.

“People have changed the way they look at us. The Feed the Future project has helped us sell our name and product,” Namutosi said. “The consumers now treat us differently. Before we didn’t have big consumers, but through YLA activities we’ve been able to book those big customers,” she adds.

She next plans to purchase equipment to tap into new markets for other high-value pumpkin-based products including wine, juice, and pumpkin seed oil. From humble beginnings to great success, Namutosi’s entrepreneurial spirit will continue to serve her well as she grows her business.

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In a bid to ease access to finance among SMEs in the country, KCB Bank Uganda in partnership with the European Investment bank has carried out a financial training forum among local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kampala.

The training is aimed at helping SMEs understand key aspects of accessing finance from financial institutions including how to get a loan, how to package their loans application, and how well they can manage the funds to avoid defaulting.

Speaking during the training session at Hotel Africana, Joram Kiarie, the KCB Managing Director, noted that the trainings will bridge the gap between the bank and the SMEs.

“We have noticed first-hand the difficulties SMEs face while applying for loans,” noted Kiarie, adding: “Majority of our clients, especially first time borrowers do not know how to package their applications,” noted Kiarie.

“We are here to train our SMEs so that they can have the requisite information and knowledge to enable them access quick and affordable financing,” he further said.

Early this year, the European Investment Bank extended a 10M euros (Shs38b) loan facility to KCB Bank to lend to SMEs. The credit facility ensures that SMEs now have access to long-term loans ranging from 5-7 years to fund expansion of their business in terms of additional projects.

Brian Mwesigye, the CEO of Bravo Shoes, noted that one of the key challenges faced by SMEs is lack of books of account,.

“Most of our businesses are informal, we are trying to formalize them to ensure effective credit analysis,” he noted.

According to KCB, the EIB credit facility will benefit over 380 SMEs across the country with an average loan of Shs100 million.

So far, the bank has trained entrepreneurs from over 800 SMEs across the country in Jinja, Mbale, Lira, Gulu, Arua, Hoima, Fort Portal and Mbarara.

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