MTN Uganda launched their commercial services in Uganda in October 1998. Since then, its market share rises every year. Today, MTN’s share stands at 53.9% in a highly competitive market of 3 players.

Through a commitment to a positive customer experience and the development of innovative products, MTN has grown to become the leading telecommunications company in Uganda, currently serving in excess of 16.8 million customers.

MTN Uganda’s vision, which is “To Lead the delivery of a Bold new digital world”, has consistently driven MTN Uganda to focus on investing and carrying out massive optimization activities.

MTN leads his partner ZTE to perform an intelligent optimization solution and end to end closed-loop control, identify and solve any issue that could impact general customer experience.

In two consecutive years of 2021 and 2022, MTN was recognized as the best data and voice network in Uganda during the national network benchmarking campaign in a countrywide assessment undertaken by Rohde & Schwarz. This achievement tests that MTN believes that everyone deserves the benefit of a connected digital life.

For realizing its ambition in 2025 which is to provide leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress, MTN Uganda is rolling out massive infrastructure project across the country to further deliver the benefits of a modern and connected life to all the customers. Looking into the future, MTN Uganda will continue to contribute to the development of digital life with the partner, creating a better tomorrow for everyone.

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The shilling traded at lows of 3723/3733 during Friday’s morning session having weakened from the week’s opening levels of 3665/3675. This was driven by robust Corporate demand as we head into the period when companies usually remit dividends.

Catherine Kijjagulwe, the Head of Trading at Absa Bank Uganda, said month-end flows from NGOs and other sectors were overshadowed by the robust activity on the demand side. The shilling is anticipated to remain under pressure in the coming days ifbdemand persists and it is likely to trade within the 3670 – 3780 trading range.

Money Markets continued to face tight liquidity conditions with some residual tax remittances at the start of the week. Overnight yields were still elevated within the 11.50%-12.50% range. Bank of Uganda held a Shs 550 billion 5-year and 20-year Treasury Bond auction that cleared at averages of 15.000% and 17.000% respectively. Bank of Uganda is scheduled to hold a Treasury Bill auction on Wednesday March 1, 2023.

She said Kenya shilling remains on the backfoot against the dollar trading within the 126.00-133.50, dollar supply is still low while demand persists and Central Bank of Kenya is still concerned about how all the outstanding demand can be met especially from the oil sector.

“The dollar remained strong on Thursday amid undertones of further rate hikes by the Fed, strong economic data also continues to signify economic growth,” she said.  

 The Euro weakened to touch lows of $1.0575 during Thursday’s session and closed the session at $1.0595. The trend of the Euro economy is still uncertain with recent mixed data releases.

The Pound slid during Thursday’s session, closing at lows of $1.2013. Catherine Mann, a member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee highlighted that there are still inflationary pressures and mentioned that it is not likely that there will be a shift to cutting rates in the near term.

Crude oil prices rose despite a build-up in US inventories on prospects of a pickup in demand in the coming weeks, there are also undertones that Russia may reduce its oil production and exports by 25% in March 2023. Brent Crude traded at $82.98 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $76.01 a barrel.

Gold traded at $1822.79 an ounce.

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Although the continent has continued to suffer a number of macroeconomic aftershocks in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has hampered the growth prospects of many African countries, the outlook for the top performing economies on the continent is broadly positive.

This is despite the fact that the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has had a harsh impact on the continent, leading to higher commodity prices, inflated food costs, increased fuel prices and headline inflation rates that have spiralled.

Despite this confluence of factors, however, according to the IMF’s recently published World Economic Outlook report, five of the world’s fastest growing economies are located in Africa. This includes Angola, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa – all of which look set to experience significant continued growth in 2023 and 2024.

This has been bolstered by recent moves such as that by the African Union, which has pledged to integrate the many recommendations set out in the newly released Africa’s Macro-Economic Performance and Outlook report.

Investing in African companies

For individuals looking to take advantage of investment opportunities on the continent, this is good news. Reports such as these speak to the resilience of the economies of many African countries as well as the corporate and commercial innovation that is continuing to take place on the continent.

Since the early 2000s, many countries in Africa have made a concerted effort to turn their economies into attractive investment opportunities for investors with interests in emerging markets.

The combination of a vast continent rich with natural resources, a young and increasingly educated workforce, and steadily growing political and economic stability has proved incredibly attractive for many investors. This has seen many take advantage of the opportunities to invest in JSE top 40 stocks.

Currently, there are around 29 different stock exchanges in Africa, representing 38 different African nations’ capital markets. The five largest of these are based in Johannesburg, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt and Kenya. Of these, the JSE – or Johannesburg Stock Exchange – has proved particularly attractive to investors.

How to choose African companies to invest in?

These exchanges provide both retail and institutional investors the opportunity to access local African publicly listed companies. The JSE, for example, has around 264 publicly listed companies, while the Egyptian and Nigerian stock exchanges host 240 and 177 companies, respectively.

But for investors looking to take advantage of these investment opportunities, how can you spot the best companies to invest in?

If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of investing in individual companies, which requires a relatively high level of financial and economic literacy, one good option is to use exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds. ETFs and mutual funds are available both domestically and outside the continent, and allow you to invest in a fund that holds a basket of diversified securities.

Another way to choose African companies to invest in is to choose them based on the industry or sector they are in. For example, if you believe the mining industry in Africa is going to perform particularly well in the months and years ahead, you can simply choose to stick to companies working in that sector of the economy.

Based on this, you would then have to do further research to select the best performing companies from within that sector. However, sticking to one specific sector or industry significantly cuts down on the amount of research you have to do. The only issue with this approach is that it would not leave you with a particularly well diversified portfolio.

The other approach, as mentioned, is to do your research and pick individual African stocks to invest in. Although this can be a productive approach, it requires not only a deep understanding of the economy and the stock exchange you want to invest through but also a high level of due diligence regarding the particular company. This might be difficult, given that so many African companies are relatively young and might not have the same amount of public information available as those in other countries.

Despite these difficulties and challenges, however, Africa and African stock exchanges represent some of the most exciting investment opportunities available today. Although the continent faces many challenges in the road ahead, such as tightening liquidity, it is clear that there is a strong entrepreneurial flair present across the region, and many African countries and business people look set to experience significant growth in the months and years to come.

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US President Joe Biden said Thursday that Washington is nominating former Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank, after its current chief David Malpass announced plans to step down early.

The development lender has just started accepting candidate nominations in a process set to run until March 29, with the bank saying women candidates would be “strongly” encouraged.”

The president of the World Bank is typically American, while the head of the International Monetary Fund is customarily European.

Banga, 63, is Indian-American and currently serving as vice chairman at equity firm General Atlantic.

He has a proven track record managing people and systems, and partnering with global leaders around the world to deliver results,” Biden said.

“Banga also has critical experience mobilising public-private resources “to tackle the most urgent challenges of our time, including climate change,” the US President said.”

Raised in India, Banga has a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing developing countries and how the World Bank can deliver on its ambitious agenda to reduce poverty and expand prosperity, he added.

Over the course of his career, Banga has become a global leader in technology, data, financial services and innovating for inclusion. He is honorary chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, serving as chairman from 2020-2022. He is also chairman of Exor and independent director at Temasek.”

He became an advisor to General Atlantic’s climate-focused fund, BeyondNetZero, at its inception in 2021. He previously served on the Boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc.

Banga, who has worked closely with Vice President Kamala Harris as the Co-Chair of the Partnership for Central America, is a member of the Trilateral Commission, a founding trustee of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, a former member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, and Chairman Emeritus of the American India Foundation.

He is a co-founder of The Cyber Readiness Institute, Vice Chair of the Economic Club of New York and served as a member of President Barack Obama’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. He is a past member of the US President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

He was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal in 2012, the Ellis Island Medal of Honour and the Business Council for International Understanding’s Global Leadership Award in 2019, and the Distinguished Friends of Singapore Public Service Star in 2021.

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