FlexiPay, Stanbic Bank’s digital payment platform, has partnered with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Upesi Money Transfer, a regional payments company, to enable FlexiPay users to send, receive money from abroad with ease.

Josephine Nakato Kasacca, Lead Customer Experience & Operations for FlexiPay said the new partnership reflects the Bank’s commitment to support and enable customers to complete borderless financial transactions in a convenient, secure, quick, and affordable manner.

She said effective June 14, 2024 customers can use FlexiPay to send money to over 20 countries. However, plans are to increase this number to 70 by the end of the year.

“In line with our purpose; Uganda is our home, we drive her growth, we believe that by helping as many people as possible meet their financial needs with innovative services, goes a long way in driving economic growth. FlexiPay is ideal platform for both sending and receiving payments and let me emphasize again, very affordable! I want to take this opportunity to call upon all of you to use it because there are dozens of unmatched benefits one cannot find on other similar platforms,” she said.

Some of the foreign countries Ugandans can receive money from include; Kenya, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Qatar, Oman, United States, South Africa, France, Canada, Israel, South Korea, India, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Kuwait, Bahrain, ARE, Australia, Poland among others.

She disclosed that FlexiPay is very safe to use, because it uses mobile applications and systems based on advanced encryption and other security measures to protect the sensitive financial information and transactions of all users.

Julius Okwana, the Upesi Money Transfer Country Manager expressed excitement about the possibilities that the partnership will realize. He said their company is committed to providing innovative solutions that simplify financial transactions.

He said coupled with FlexiPay’s rapidly increasing uptake in Uganda and Upesi’s extensive regional and global network, the partnership promises to make cross-border money transfers faster and more convenient without making unnecessary visits to banking halls.

“With the increasing demand for cross-border transactions in Uganda, this partnership between FlexiPay and Upesi is poised to revolutionize the way people send and receive money internationally. It is expected to drive financial inclusion and promote economic growth in the region.” Okwana said.

He assured users that all transactions are secured and protected from potential cyber threats.

As of 2023, there are estimated to be around two million Ugandans living, and working abroad. There are also a good number of Ugandans here, who are doing plenty of business with foreign companies. 

The recent World Bank report indicates that the total amount of money remittances received in Uganda on an annual basis is approximately $1.43 billion, about 5.32 trillion Ugandan Shillings.

According to David Berno, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Head Remittance and Inclusive, remittances play a crucial role in reducing poverty and enhancing food security in developing countries.

He said, “We are excited to be affiliated to this campaign because money remittances enable families to meet their basic needs, such as food, shelter, and education, and can also contribute to local economic growth through increased consumption and investment. Therefore, by supporting money remittances, IFAD aims to promote financial inclusion, empower smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs, and ultimately contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction.”

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President Yoweri Museveni is this Thursday expected to meet city traders under the umbrella bodies of the Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA), Uganda Cargo Consolidators, and Kampala Rice Traders on the implementation of Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution (EFRIS).

The meeting is aimed at assessing the processes implementing EFRIS. City traders decried over taxations and penalties arising from failure to remit VAT and the Chinese invasion of the local markets.

The business community protested the system, closing shops in Kikuubo and downtown, claiming double taxation and lack of information about the system. They stated that the system is costly in terms of implementation since it requires devices like computers or smartphones and a gadget for printing receipts.

They contend that high import values (old ones) are making it hard for traders to clear their goods and that the high cost of living means that most of the essential goods are becoming unaffordable to the common man.

 URA started implementing EFRIS in 2021 to address tax administration challenges relating to business transactions and the issuance of receipts. The system helps URA assess the right taxes using accurate and authentically generated information. It also enables businesses to thrive with improved record-keeping and monitored stock and sales, among others.

The implementation of EFRIS will ensure not just equity in tax collection, especially VAT, but also transparency. The system is expected to double total VAT collections from Shs3.5 trillion to about Shs7 trillion.

Tanzania and Rwanda adopted EFRIS over 10 years ago. These countries collect 33% and 30%, respectively, of their total tax revenue through VAT. Uganda is currently collecting about 15% VAT of its total tax revenue, and this amounts to Shs3.5 trillion.

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MTN Uganda has attained a public float of 20 percent at the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and the giant telecom company in the country is now fully compliant with the minimum public float requirement set out in rule 32 (7) of the USE rules, 2021,

The purchase of all the shares, according to officials, is a vote of confidence in MTN Uganda but also amplifies investor confidence in Uganda’s equity market and by extension boosts the market capitalisation of the stock exchange, given the strongest subscription rate of 230 percent.

In 2021, MTN listed 20 percent of its shares on the USE with a 12.97 percent public float from the Initial Public Offering (IPO) and the company provided an undertaking to the USE that the remaining 7.03 percent would be completed by December 5, 2024.

The latest development comes after the company’s completion of its secondary market offer for the purchase of shares which ran from May 27, 2024, to June 10, 2024.

During the announcement of results from this secondary market offer for the purchase of shares at the MTN headquarters in Kampala, USE Chief Executive Officer Paul Bwiso revealed that they approved the company to be voluntarily suspended for two weeks from the USE to give Ugandans an opportunity to participate, look at the fundamentals of the company, the incentives shares that were provided and the dividends that were part of this offering from which they saw a lot of positive results in terms of participation. 

“MTN’s market capitalisation is Shs3.8 trillion out of the total local market capitalisation of Shs11.8 trillion. That gives MTN a 32.3 percent contribution to the local market capitalisation and this growth has been signified in the trading turnover we have seen at the exchange from IPO,” he said.

In the same vein Grace Semakula from SBG Securities, the lead sponsoring broker on behalf of MTN Uganda noted that in total, 157,4807,373 shares were offered by MTN to the market and the preliminary results indicate a subscription rate of 230 percent making it the strongest subscription they have received from issuance in the local market. This performance translates into an over-subscription of 130 percent, he said.

“We have received several applications from both existing and new investors and the company’s shareholder base has grown to over 20,000. With strong retail participation in this offer, we have seen an average retail participation of Shs13.4 million invested per average retail applicant,” said Semakula.

On his part, MTN Uganda chairman Charles Mbire commended the success of the recently concluded secondary market offer which he said in addition to being oversubscribed, has resulted in approximately 19,600 Ugandan investors owning a stake in the company that employs many Ugandans, on top of paying taxes.

“We are proud to have helped facilitate the broadest possible shareholder base in Uganda, with regional participation and in so doing, further developing the equity capital markets in this country.”

For her part, MTN Uganda Chief Executive Officer, Sylvia Mulinge said that the company’s old investors on the register as of June 12, 2024, and the new investors who participated in the secondary offer are eligible for the next dividend payment worth Shs143 billion translating to Shs6.4 per share which she said will be paid by June 25, 2024. This will bring the total dividend the company has paid to its shareholders since the IPO in December 2021 to Shs864 billion.

This is a very big boost for MTN-Ugandaif you add the achievement of paying Shs1.1 trillion for the year 2023.

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President Yoweri Museveni has revealed that Uganda will earn US$2 billion per annum once oil production starts in 2025 and the revenue devoted to infrastructure and science development.

Museveni said investing $2 billion in the two sectors will significantly relieve the government of external borrowing and external debt.

Museveni made these assurances after the Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija delivered the 2024/2025 budget to the House at a sitting chaired by Speaker Anita Among at Kololo Independence Grounds on Thursday, June 13, 2024.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Uganda’s debt burden stands at Shs93.38 trillion as of December 2023. Out of this, Shs55.37 was external debt which the President said should cease.

“If the NRM will be in charge, we shall use the oil money for strategic items such as infrastructure and science development; this business of borrowing should stop,” Museveni emphasised.

Museveni said that the government will invest the revenues from oil in infrastructure such as the Standard Gauge Railway which will enhance Uganda’s potential to create wealth and reduce borrowing.

In the 2024/2025 financial year, the government has allocated over Shs920 billion for the oil and gas sector to realise the ‘first oil’.

 Kasaija said this is possible with the progress made in the construction of East African Crude Oil pipeline (EACOP) project where 500km of pipeline have been delivered in Tanzania.

Kasaija added that in the new financial year, the government will focus on developing an EACOP hub in Tanga and continuous construction of the pipeline.

In addition to the oil sector, tourism, mechanised agriculture and minerals development were highlighted as key drivers to catapult the size of the economy to $500 billion in the next one and a half decades.

“We are lucky we have the rains but sometimes we get less rains and get into food crises. We must have complementary agricultural arrangements, such that when rains do not come, there is a standby irrigation system,” the President said.

Some of the army representatives in Parliament salute as the anthems are played

Speaker Among on her part urged members to avoid any inducements and called on accounting officers to report cases of extortion.

“We have urged accounting officers to share with the leadership of the legislature any incidences of influence peddling. However, we have not received any such information. We urge accounting officers to maintain open channels of communication with the leadership of the legislature in pursuit of greater transparency and accountability,” Among said.

She called on legislators to walk in accordance with the code of conduct prescribed for them and uphold integrity of the rule of law.

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