By KT Reporter
The Capital Markets Five 5-Year Strategic Plan under the theme: “Catalysing Participation and Harnessing the Capital Markets,” is expected to strengthen and transform Uganda’s capital markets into a more vibrant, transparent and trusted industry.
The plan running between financial years 2025/26–2029/30 was developed with the objectives of strengthening supervision and regulation, fostering market development, leveraging technology and building a strong institutional capacity of the Capital Market Authority (CMA).
CMA is in charge of regulating the capital markets industry that includes the activities of Stock Brokers, Unit Trust Managers and their schemes; Securities Central Depositories; Trustees; Investment Advisors, Fund Managers; Custodians; Dealers; Transaction Advisers; Authorised Registrars; Stock Exchanges; Commodities Exchanges; Venture Capital Fund, Self-Regulatory Organisations, Commodities Brokers and Credit Rating Agencies.
The strategy has been described as a blueprint which positions Uganda’s capital markets as a key driver of economic transformation towards a 500B Dollar economy by 2040 – the 10-fold growth strategy and fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV).
Henry Musasizi, Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development, says the objectives are exactly what Uganda needs to create a world-class market system.
He says to achieve this, Uganda must instil confidence in the investor community and assure them that their investments will be safe, and in the end support financial flows into the Ugandan economy.
The plan is anchored on four strategic pillars, including mobilising long-term capital to power private sector growth, industrialisation and infrastructure; and expanding stakeholder awareness and participation to enhance inclusion and investor confidence.
Others are: harnessing technology to drive efficiency and accessibility; and strengthening governance and institutional capacity to safeguard investors.
“With this strategic direction, CMA reaffirms its commitment to building inclusive, innovative, and resilient capital markets that will develop Uganda’s economy,” says CMA. Josephine Okwi Ossiya, CMA Chief Executive Officer, says the Plan marks a pivotal phase for the CMA as they chart their course for the next five years.
“It reflects our ambition to transform Uganda’s capital markets into a more accessible, inclusive and resilient platform for mobilising long-term finance,” says Ossiya.
She, however, says that for the strategy to achieve its full objective, there will have to be a collaborative approach across all government entities to utilise the capital markets as a source to raise long-term financing.
Despite several efforts to boost its growth, Uganda’s capital market has been very slow in attracting stocks, and the numbers remain far below their East African Peers, especially Kenya and Tanzania.
However, some other segments are growing faster, with the main example being the Collective Investment Schemes.
Saul Sseremba, the Chairman Board of Directors of CMA, said the activities of the board were being affected by the limited funds, asking the Ministry of Finance to increase allocation of resources to them.
This, according to Sseremba, would help enhance regulatory effectiveness through recruitments, staff trainings, and technological deployments, among others.
He says that according to the current annual allocations of about nine Billion Shillings, the strategy will encounter a funding gap of about 150 Billion Shillings out of the required 171 billion over the five years.
In his response, Minister Musasizi hailed the institution for the renewed strength and committed that the government will increase funding to also cater for the Strategic Plan.
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