Ecobank (U), and the National Water and Sewerage Corporation last week signed a partnership deal that will see the NWSC clients pay their water bills through the Ecobank online payment system. In spite of the bank being a late entrant into the water bills payment system, the bank has moved a notch higher by introducing a platform where the NWSC will access its client's payments online immediately they deposit the money. Under the Direct Debit Payment (DDP) system, a customer mandates the NWSC to collect an equivalent of the water bill from his account upon the bank receiving an advice from the NWSC. The Bank collect system is accessible at all the Ecobank branches in the country. While the Ecobank bank said it is introducing innovation, the NWSC said it is promoting convenience to its clients. Ecobank is the second West African originated bank after the United bank for Africa (UBA) to sign a partnership deal with the NWSC.
The DDP system is already in the other markets where Ecobank has a presence and is only being replicated on the Ugandan market where the bank is one year old. The Ecobank group has invested up to $100million into the technology platform .
From gorillas to mountains
When the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) launched the friend a gorilla campaign last year, no one would have guessed its next target. Now, the UWA has partnered with a private company, Ai Services and is organising a Mt. Elgon Corporate Challenge that will bring the mountain into the spotlight as a tourism destination. At 4,320ft above sea level, mount Elgon is the second highest mountain in Uganda.
The event is targeting the corporate organizations, international schools and diplomatic missions. The Mt. Elgon Corporate Challenge begins with climbing the mountain on March 22 and descending on 25 March. The Corporate Challenge is slated to become an annual event so that every Ugandan gets an opportunity to experience the beauty of the mountain. According to statistics from the UWA, the number of Ugandans who visited parks in 2003 -2006 was at 16,000 -17,000. Between 2007 and 2009, the numbers shot up from 24,381 in 2007 to 25,605 in 2008. In 2009 the number shot to 29,884. This represents a 23 % increase in the number of Ugandans who visited the parks between 2007 and 2009. The Elgon Corporate challenge plans to grow the numbers.
Profitable KCB to retrench 1000
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has announced a 5% increase in its pre-tax profits for the financial year ended December 31, 2009. KCB chief executive Martin Oduor-Otieno last week said , " despite a challenging year, our loan recovery efforts and a growth in interest income has seen as through.'' Net interest income went up 23 % to KShs 11.8 billion and prudent loan recovery reduced its provision for bad debts by 57 % to KShs1.6 billion last year, compared to KShs 3.7 billion in 2008. Customer deposits grew from KShs 94 billion the previous year to Shs 120 billion a 28 % increase.The bank however, took a hit from an increase in expenses as a result of branch expansion network and investment in technology that it undertook in the last two years. The bank's total operating expenses went up 30 % last year to stand at Shs 15.9 billion compared to Shs 12.2 billion in 2008. The bank opened 14 new branches bringing to 203 the total number of branches across the East African region and South Sudan. In spite of the challenges, the bank managed to grow its loan book by advancing up to Shs 163 billion in 2009 compared to Shs 127 billion in 2008, a 29 % increase. Total assets grew by 2 % to Shs 195 billion from Shs 191 billion the previous year. The company declared dividends of Shs 1 per share, same as last year. The banks staff costs, which contributed to its expenses, stood at just over Shs 7 billion last year, compared to Shs 5.9 billion the previous year. This is expected to reduce with at least 1,000 employees set to be retrenched in the next two months, as the bank adopts cost-cutting measures.
Mulwana quizzed over CHOGM business forum
One time chairman of the Uganda Manufactures association businessman, James Mulwana, was last week quizzed by the members of parliament sitting on the public accounts committee. He was quizzed over his failure to document the amount of money collected from local companies to sponsor the Business Forum Conference ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala in 2007. It all resulted from the Auditor General who queried why the money that was collected from the companies by Mulwana`s committee was not accounted for. In spite of chairing the committee that oversaw the organisation of the business forum, Mulwana never touched a shilling nor could he tell how much was collected from the local sponsors and how it was used.
Zain launches Diaspora airtime transfer
Zain Mobile telephony subscribers in Uganda will soon start receiving airtime top ups from their kith and kin leaving in the Diaspora. This follows the launch of an international mobile airtime top up service by Zain that will allow Ugandans leaving in 16 countries in Europe and North America, including the US and UK, to send airtime to subscribers on the operator's network. The new service was last week launched in Kenya and will soon be rolled out onto the Zain Uganda and Tanzania.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
