The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | URN | Some 30 years ago The Capital Markets Authority of Uganda was established, paving the way for the first stock market activity in Uganda in January 1998, when the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) opened for trading.
While CMA is the regulator, USE is the market place where stocks are sold and bought.
Trading formally began with a single listing: a bond issued by the East African Development Bank (EADB), and subsequent days saw very limited activity, with only a handful of trades per week.
The listing of Uganda Clays Ltd in January 2000 on the USE was the game changer, and since then, the number has grown to 19 companies, with 11 local ones and eight cross-listed from Kenya’s Nairobi Stock Exchange, while the industry diversified into Collective Investments Schemes (CIS).
The listed companies have so far raised about UGX 2.3 trillion from stock sales, while CISs have so far collected UGX 5.6 trillion in Assets Under Management in just about six years since being introduced.
CMA was established to regulate the buying and selling of shares in companies, a channel used by entrepreneurs to raise capital to expand or strengthen their businesses, buy allowing other people to invest in it.
The first Initial Public Offer (by Uganda Clays), was oversubscribed by 15 percent (more shares were applied for by investors than the number of shares which were offered), which was an indication of public interest in Ugandan stock market.
East African Breweries shares which were already trading on Nairobi Stock Exchange were cross-listed on the USE the following year.
It was followed by the listing of Bank of Baroda, which was also the first bank to be listed, in September 2002, and a gradual growth in local listings. Since then, British American Tobacco, DFCU Group, NVL New Vision Group, Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited, National Insurance Corporation, Umeme Ltd, Quality Chemical Industries, MTN Uganda and Airtel Uganda have followed.
Along the way, after EABL, other cross-listings followed including JHL Jubilee Holdings, Kenya Airways, KCB Group, Equity Group Holdings Limited, Uchumi Supermarkets, Nation Media Group and Centum Investments.
CMA’s mandate is to regulate and develop the capital markets space in Uganda, with the objectives to promoting confidence in the capital markets, ensuring honesty and transparency in capital markets transactions, carrying out investor education, protecting investors; and reducing systemic risk, according to Public Information Officer, Norbert Barigye.
Today, CMA supervises a diverse network of institutions, apart from USE, stock brokers and securities central depositories. The others include unit trust managers which manage collective investment schemes; fund managers; transaction advisors; venture capital funds; investment advisors; and the Commodities Exchange.
The Commodities Exchange promotes warehouse receipt financing so farmers can access credit using stored produce as collateral, while providing a transparent platform for quality-assured trading between farmers, cooperatives, and millers.
Josephine Okui Ossiya, CMA Chief Executive Officer says these have enabled the authority grow and diversify the industry, giving Ugandans options of financial products to invest in and deepen financial inclusion.
“UGX 2.3 trillion has been raised through public offers, and our domestic market capitalization has grown to UGX 15.9 trillion with 9 locally listed companies and a total of 8 cross listed companies; our Collective Investment Schemes have mobilized UGX 5.6 trillion in savings as of December, 2025,” she says.
To-date, the numbers of people participating in the industry have grown, with more than 273,574 Ugandans now holding Securities Central Depository accounts, and more than 180,000 investing through Collective Investment Schemes; “a clear indication that the capital markets are becoming more inclusive and accessible,” according to the CEO.
CMA’s development efforts have also facilitated public market transactions that have yielded UGX 2.2 trillion in the equity markets and UGX 290 billion in the corporate bond market space. These figures represent real capital raised by real companies and real returns realised by real investors.
On how this has helped the wider economy, Ossiya says, “In 2024, these companies employed over 11,000 Ugandan, spending over UGX 792 billion in employee expenses. Additionally, these companies contributed in excess of UGX 2.45 trillion in taxes, and returned over UGX 1.15 trillion in dividends contributing to wealth creation among investors.”
In addition, the Collective Investment Schemes Act, Cap 65, was enacted, providing for the establishment of two types of collective investment schemes in Uganda: Investment Companies with Variable Capital, and Unit Trusts.
“In practice, however, Unit Trusts have emerged as the more widely adopted structure in the Ugandan market,” says the CEO. To ensure safety and security for the investors and promote trust in the industry, CMA introduced the Investor Compensation Fund.
“The introduction of the Investor Compensation Fund has provided an additional safeguard for investors, while corporate governance principles have promoted transparency and accountability among market participants,” she goes on.
The growth of the mainstream or core business in the industry, which is the stock market has been relatively slow, with just 11 local listings and seven cross-listings. In response, CMA introduced the CMA Regulatory Sandbox last year to further foster fintech innovation within a controlled and supervised environment.
“This provides an opportunity for innovators to test new products and services while ensuring that investor protection and market integrity are maintained,” she says, adding that CMA has also carried out a number of sensitization and public education campaigns over the years, reaching over twenty million Ugandans both within and outside Uganda.
CMA says that their major purpose is to protect people’s investments.
The journey has also been dominated by unlicensed and illegal players, which has kept CMA busy.
The main challenge has been ponzi schemes, which has been constantly evolving to evade the crackdowns. Derrick Muhumure, a certified crimes investigator says these thrive because some take long before being detected by the authorities, and people end up losing money.
He says efforts should be put on sensitizing masses on the dangers of participating in such businesses and how to detect a ponzi, whose first red flag is usually the promise of the unusually high returns.
