By Ben Ssebuguzi
Uganda is a blessed country; from ravages of wars and instability to strong financial sector development, institutional quality and public investment hence making the Pearl a virgin business destination.
Dr Sudhir Ruparelia has often been said that his wealth is got from tax payers through conduits,but recent payout to Sudhir by Bank of Baroda a dividend of more than shs 2.5B shows how the money magnet has more skills of making money compared to our regular billionaires in Uganda.
Much as he was born in Uganda and escaped during Amin’s regime due to devastating economic war, this helped him to work in London and got unlimited exposure to modern methods of making money such as Capital markets.
Almost every one who makes get through in Uganda thinks about constructing a banglow or an arcade but Dr Sudhir has proved critics wrong that Uganda’s stock exchange market is a diversified profitable zone with enormous opportunities of making money.
For us to achieve our 4th Development plan and our 10 fold growth strategy, we need extra ordinary investors like Sudhir who believe in their country by owning over 375.16 million shares in Bank of Baroda, of which some Kikuubo billionaires are still locked in traditional business style.
An individual investor earning almost Shs3b is a vote of confidence in Uganda’s economic performance indicators.
The baseline forecast for the World economy forecast growth is at 3.2 per cent compared to Uganda economy which grew at 6.4 per cent in FY 2025/26 and expected to reach 10.2%, a double digits growth in FY 2026/27 supported by First oil production and government investment in ATMS.
And according to PSST Ramadan Ggoobi, the economy remains robust and outlook is optimistic for the coming financial years.
Uganda has already set out an ambitious agenda and therefore we need a strong Capital markets authority because while commercial banks offer short term relief, capital markets provide the patient generational capital required to fund businesses, large scale infrastructure, industrial parks etc.
According to data, Capital markets Authority domestic capitalisation on Uganda securities Exchange alone has surpassed Shs 15trillions, while the whole portfolio with bonds is close to Shs 30 trillions hence showing a substantial growth over time.
The stock market enables companies to raise money and public to profit from their growth prospects which leads to more jobs for Bazzukulu and higher growth of our GDP.
The GDP is always stimulated through 4 components: consumption expenditure after dividend payment, business investment through IPO, government spending after selling bonds and TBs, and net export of goods and services.
The worth of US stock market at the end of 2025 was estimated at $69 trillions while their GDP was roughly $31 trillions hence showing a significant role of Stocks in a modern economy.
This is a wake up call to people planning to retire to use wealth managers to invest their substantial savings into Capital markets because research says that there is a Retirement Crisis in the country as 80% of retirees deplete their lump sum benefits within 5 years.
In conclusion, we should pray for more substantial political support as well as good interaction between industry actors and State actors, as our economy is set to transition from substance to modern and prosperous money economy as a result viable policy and laws.
Long live General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ,Long live Hajjat Hadijah Namyalo SPA/PA and manager ONC
The writer is the Head of Research Office of the National Chairman of NRM.
