Until recently, average load-shedding (power cuts) in Uganda occurred 12 hours per day. With Bujagali’s five t...

AKDN / Matthias Mugisha

NTV Uganda.

AKDN / Zahur Ramji

Prior to the presence of WENRECO's hydropower plant in the Arua area of Uganda, there were only four primary s...

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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Uganda | Economic Development

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33 percent

The Bujagali Hydropower Project supplies 33 percent of the electricity in the country

To encourage the creation of strong and efficient capital markets and provide essential financial services, AKFED provides an institutional umbrella for banks and insurance companies in eastern Africa, Central Asia and South Asia. As parts of AKFED, these project companies work on a commercial basis, but all profits are reinvested in further development. Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), which was founded in the 1940s, offers retail and commerical banking services in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi via a network of over 110 branches. Photo: DTB offices in Kampala, Uganda.

AKDN / Zahur Ramji

Financial Services

Jubilee Allianz General Insurance Limited


The Jubilee Insurance Group in Africa was founded in the 1930s to provide life and general insurance across the region. It has grown into the market leader in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Mauritius. In 2021 the Group entered a strategic partnership with Allianz. Currently it has over 450,000 clients in East Africa. Jubilee Allianz is listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and the Uganda Securities Exchange, having been rated highly on Leadership, Quality and Risk Management. It has an AA- rating in Kenya and Uganda and an A+ in Tanzania.


Jubilee Allianz has maintained its position as the largest composite insurer in East Africa for the 14th consecutive year. It has retained the number one position in health business in Kenya and Uganda, short-term business in Uganda and general business in Tanzania. It is now the top life insurer in Uganda. It is preeminent in the health insurance sector in East Africa, both in terms of gross written premiums and its underwriting results.


Diamond Trust Bank


Established 70 years ago, Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) has matured into a fully fledged commercial banking group in East Africa with branches in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.


Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), which was founded in the 1940s, offers retail and commercial banking services in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi via a network of over 135 branches. It primarily serves corporate and SME customers. DTB offers an array of banking services, including the provision of financial services to over 900,000 customers via alternative delivery channels.


DTB Kenya is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and has nearly 12,000 shareholders worldwide. Its key shareholders include AKFED, Habib Bank Limited (HBL), which is an AKFED subsidiary, and International Finance Corporation (IFC).


The lack of a steady electricity supply has hampered economic growth. With the addition of Bujagali hydropower to the grid, the steady supply of power allows businesses of all sizes to extend their service hours, expand their operations and attract investment.

AKDN

Industrial Promotion Services

Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) was set up in 1963 to encourage and expand private enterprise in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It operates several infrastructure projects, including a large-scale hydropower plant, as well as a number of key industries in Uganda.


Bujagali Hydropower Plant


The flagship of IPS’s infrastructure investments in East Africa is the US$ 900-million Bujagali hydropower plant located on the River Nile. Bujagali is one of the largest independent power plants in sub-Saharan Africa. With a capacity of 250 MW, it has doubled Uganda’s effective generation capacity and is currently providing 33 percent of the country’s electricity.


In the past, frequent load-shedding or electricity blackouts were estimated to account for a 1-1.5 percent loss to Uganda’s GDP, thereby slowing the country’s economic development. With this significant increase in generation capacity, the project has virtually eliminated load-shedding and replaced emergency thermal generation. Access to reliable, more affordable and cleaner power has improved the investment climate across the country and the region and led to overall improvements in the quality of life.


It has:



  • created jobs for Ugandan workers;

  • created clean water supplies;

  • provided education for nearby villages;

  • provided local health facilities;

  • made micro-credit funds available to surrounding rural populations; and

  • enhanced other local infrastructure.


The Plant was established through a public-private partnership model between the Government of Uganda and a consortium led by AKFED and Blackstone affiliates (Sithe Global Power). In 2018, Sithe Global Power sold its shares to SN Power Invest Netherlands. Other project partners currently include the International Finance Corporation, the African Development Bank, PROPARCO (France), CDC (UK), DEG (Germany), FMO (Netherlands), International Development Agency (World Bank), ABSA Bank Limited (South Africa) and Nedbank (London Branch).


The West Nile Rural Electrification Company


The West Nile Rural Electrification Company (WENRECo), another AKFED project, supplies electricity to the West Nile region. Commissioned in 2012, the 3.5MW River Nyagak mini hydroelectric plant now provides a renewable source of energy in an area where only one percent of the rural population of 1.4 million previously had access to electricity.


A first of its kind, the project was also the first in Africa to qualify under the World Bank-administered Prototype Carbon Fund, which generates funds for sustainable development through the purchase of project-based greenhouse gas emission reductions that are consistent with the Kyoto Protocol, the framework of Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).


Supported by the Government of Uganda, German development institutions and the World Bank, the West Nile project provides an attractive model for rural electrification not only in Uganda but for Africa more broadly. A steady supply of electricity has already had an impact on the functioning of hospitals and schools. It has assisted the growth of entrepreneurial activity, particularly basic agro-based industries.


Kampala Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd


IPS has also made investments in several key industries, including Kampala Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (KPI), which is one of the largest manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs in Uganda. KPI manufactures high quality and affordable essential medicines for communicable and non-communicable diseases as well as food supplements (nutraceuticals) for the domestic and regional markets.


Uganda Fishnet Manufacturers Ltd


Another IPS investment, Uganda Fishnet Manufacturers Ltd. (UFM), provides a locally manufactured supply of quality fishnets, an essential product for one of Uganda’s most significant export industries. Fishnets are produced in a manner that is consistently compliant with local and international standards, thus promoting sustainable fishing practices.


Kampala Serena Hotel, Uganda.

AKDN / Gary Otte

Tourism Promotion Services

Serena Hotels


Serena hotels contribute to the local economy through the training of skilled manpower, the reinvigoration of artisans and craft industries, and sensitive conservation or development of the surrounding area.


The Kampala Serena Hotel opened in 2006 and employs 442 staff. Of these, 98 percent are Ugandan nationals while the remaining two percent are East African. The Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa employs 170 Ugandans.


NTV Uganda.

AKDN / Zahur Ramji

Media Services

Independent media voices are essential to keep citizens informed about their country. To help achieve this, AKFED established the Nation Media Group in Kenya in 1960. The group acquired Monitor Publications Limited in 2001. Headquartered in Kampala, the Daily Monitor was established in 1992. Still the country’s only independent daily paper, it has grown into a multimedia group with offices across the country.


In addition to publishing the Daily and Sunday Monitor, Monitor Publications Limited also operates two FM radio stations, 93.3 KFM-Kampala and Dembe FM. The Nation Media Group’s regional publication, The East African, also has a bureau in Kampala and significant circulation in Uganda.


In 2006, the Nation Media Group launched NTV to provide information, knowledge and entertainment through high-quality television programming and comprehensive news coverage. NTV is Uganda’s leading TV station and airs across the country as a free-to-air channel, living up to its slogan “Turning on your world”. In 2015 NTV launched Spark TV, a local language channel focusing on women. It encourages female empowerment, entrepreneurship and development through better access to relevant information and progressive female role models.


A community-based savings group in Arua district holds its weekly meeting.

AKDN / Gillian Avako

Financial Inclusion

We promote financial inclusion through financial literacy training and supporting savings groups in Arua and Yumbe, two predominantly rural districts in Uganda’s West Nile region.


AKF launched a financial inclusion project in the West Nile region of Uganda in 2015, in partnership with Financial Sector Deepening, Uganda (FSDU), the Community Organization for Rural Enterprise Activity Management (CREAM), a local civil society organisation, and Diamond Trust Bank. The project links community-based savings groups in remote parts of Arua and Yumbe to formal banking institutions, allowing them to protect their savings, plan longer-term investments and better withstand economic shocks. The project has benefited 800 savings groups, comprising 20,000 members.


PDM Uganda Limited


PDM is an East African real estate company that has pioneered innovative developments for over 50 years. It also offers consultancy, project management, and property and facilities management services.


Its philosophy is to develop properties that both serve an economic purpose and uplift the quality of life for the community. Key developments in Uganda include DTB Centre Kampala and Infinity Court Apartments in Kololo.