The continent’s debt-service payments in 2020 amount to $44 billion which is a lot of money COMMENT | COBUS VAN STADEN | The COVID-19 crisis is pushing Africa to the financial brink. African governments are under pressure to continue servicing their external loans, leaving them with few resources to confront …
Read More »Gulu regional referral hospital in UGX 262m debt
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Gulu Regional Referral Hospital is struggling to pay 262 million shillings debt incurred from Covid-19 activities. James Elima, the hospital director disclosed on Thursday that the hospital purchased food worth 190 million shillings for feeding Covid-19 suspects and patients at the quarantine and treatment …
Read More »Bringing possibility to life during a crisis
Absa has reacted swiftly to the COVID-19 pandemic by designing, offering and implementing smart solutions and offering significant financial respite during these times. COMMENT | Vimal Kumar | When a crisis of the magnitude of Covid-19 strikes, it is our role as a responsible lender to put forward various immediate and …
Read More »Finance Ministry sets new targets to manage Uganda’s debt
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Government through the Finance and Economics Development Ministry is among others looking at reducing reliance on debt by increasing domestic revenue and improving the execution rate of projects as some of the ways to sustain the country’s debt. As at end of June 2019, …
Read More »Parliament committee cautions gov’t on expensive China loans
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Economy committee of Parliament has asked the government to scale down debt contracting to only projects that have high economic and financial returns, and target cheaper concessional loans to finance investments. According to the committee, as the country’s external debt position faces …
Read More »Finance Ministry to clear police domestic arrears
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Police Force (UPF) will now have a sigh of relief after the Ministry of Finance took over its 125 billion Shillings debt. The debt is a result of unpaid bills for power, food, water, housing, vehicle maintenance, fuel and lubricants accumulated up to …
Read More »UMEME dragged to court over UGX 115M debt
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Electricty distributor UMEME has been dragged to court for failing to pay more than 115 million shillings to an advertising firm. In its petition before the Commercial Division of High Court, QG Saatchi and Saatchi Limited is seeking an order for the payment of …
Read More »China’s vast investment in Africa hits a snag in Congo
Paris, France | AFP | China’s investment strategy of throwing money at developing countries appears to have hit a snag in the Republic of Congo as the central African nation is seeking an IMF bailout. While the funding it provided to Congo wasn’t part of the Belt and Road Initiative …
Read More »Is Uganda’s debt sustainable?
THE LAST WORD: How Prof Hyuha Mukwanason’s response to my article fails to move beyond abstract theoretical arguments THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M MWENDA | Prof Hyuha Mukwanason wrote in Daily Monitor of April 13 a 4,214 words-long article responding to my article published in The New Vision of …
Read More »Economic costs of increasing debt
Understanding the high risk burden to the economy posed by the current debt level COMMENT | Ezra Munyabonera | Due to high borrowing costs—especially domestically—Uganda’s debt burden may reach unsustainable levels in the medium term, unless government slows down on accumulation of new debt. Since the start of implementing infrastructure …
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