By Aloysious Kasoma
Ugandan businessmen and women have been told to explore alternative sources of funding beyond that is provided by banks.
Speaking during a press briefing held Thursday at Hotel Africana to announce the forthcoming Annual Directors and Company Secretaries Conference, Keith Kalyegira, the CEO at the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) said that Ugandans over depend on banks to finance their businesses yet there are other cheaper alternative sources that are yet to be exploited.
“The main challenge of business [in Uganda] is over reliance on banks than pension funds. In developed countries like the US, 60% of the source of funds is coming from retirement funds yet in Africa only 5% [funding comes from retirement funds]. Access to funds is a major bottleneck for businesses to operate,” Kalyegira said.
Capital Markets Authority in partnership with the Institute of Chartered Authority (ISCA) have organized the Annual Directors and Company Secretaries Conference scheduled to take place on March 14, 2018 at Protea Hotel in Kampala. Kalyegira said the conference is based on the desire to see professionalism in businesses and help them grow further.
The Deputy Registrar General and Chair of ICSA, Jane Okot P’bitek Langoya said that the conference will ride on the theme; “Corporate Governance for Public and Private Sector Growth’ and it is targeting all company Secretaries and Administrators from Public and Small and Medium
Enterprises. The conference will also attract directors of public and private entities, professionals in the legal and accounting fraternity and aims to highlight key governance issues and offer new information on trends in the governance and financing environment.
This year’s conference will further focus on private sector growth in Uganda and lend a global view to the recent developments in enterprise governance.
Okot P’bitek Langoya added that there is need for corporate governance for companies to blossom. The one day 7th edition of conference is expected to be honored by the State Minister of Finance David Bahati and Andrew Kasirye as Keynote Speaker.
Other panelists set to grace the conference include Private Sector Foundation Executive Uganda Executive Director Gideon Badagawa and Rose Lumumba, World Bank’s IFC Corporate Governance Officer among others.
The entrance fee will be Shs200, 000 per head and Shs800,000 for five
participants.
