The Chairperson and Members of the ACI Uganda Executive Committee,
The Leadership of the Uganda Bankers' Association,
Chief Executive Officers and Senior Representatives of Commercial Banks,
Colleagues from the Bank of Uganda,
Financial Market Practitioners, and particularly the dealers gathered here today,
Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen.
Good evening.
I bring you warm greetings from the Bank of Uganda.
I wish to thank ACI Uganda for convening this timely and important conversation, and Diamond Trust Bank for graciously hosting us. Such gatherings are valuable because they bring together the people who translate policy signals, market information, and investor expectations into the day‑to‑day functioning of our financial system.
I am pleased to speak to you this evening about the strategic role of financial markets in Uganda’s economic transformation. Uganda’s Ten‑Fold Growth Strategy requires us to convert savings into investment, investment into enterprise, enterprise into productivity, and productivity into jobs, exports, and household incomes. In that chain, you, the key financial market participants, are not supporting actors; your roles are central to the transmission mechanism for building Uganda’s US$500 billion economy that we aspire to achieve by 2040.
A]. Where are we today?
Uganda’s financial markets have made meaningful progress over the years. In the 2025 Absa Africa Financial Markets Index, Uganda was ranked third on the continent, up from fourth in 2024, behind only South Africa and Mauritius. This ranking is not an end in itself, but it is a useful signal: it reflects the gains from sustained macroeconomic management, regulatory reform, market transparency, and institutional coordination.
The momentum is also visible in our domestic markets. In FY2025/26, for instance, turnover in the unsecured money market increased to about UGX70 trillion from UGX60 trillion, while secondary market turnover rose to approximately UGX125 trillion from UGX91 trillion. The introduction of the 25‑year Treasury bond extended the yield curve and helped attract longer‑term investors into the domestic debt market.
Similarly, the foreign exchange market is evolving. Average daily spot turnover has risen to more than US$150 million, FX swap turnover has reached approximately UGX100 trillion, and the FX Swap Facility has provided US$768 million to the Inter-bank market. These figures demonstrate our expanding capacity to intermediate flows, support liquidity management, and trade facilitation, investment, and promote confidence.
In collaboration with interbank market participants, the Bank of Uganda has developed and is publishing the Uganda FX Swap Curve, strengthening transparency and price discovery. Benchmark reforms, including work toward a Risk-Based Credit Pricing Model, are also intended to improve transparency in lending and strengthen the transmission of monetary policy.
In addition, BoU has executed International Swaps and Derivatives Association or ISDA Master Agreements with commercial banks, work on close-out netting is progressing, and Uganda has been recognized on the BIS Global FX Code Register. This signifies our commitment to adherence to international standards of ethics, transparency, and governance in Uganda’s financial markets.
We should recognize this progress with humility and confidence. The foundations are stronger than they were a decade ago, but the scale of Uganda’s ambition requires us to deepen, broaden and professionalize our markets even further.
B]. The Tenfold-Growth Strategy Challenge
The Tenfold Growth Strategy is Uganda’s blueprint for a qualitative leap in economic transformation. It seeks to expand the economy from nearly US$50 billion in 2023 to US$500 billion by 2040 by moving from raw-material production toward higher-value goods and services, expanding exports, increasing productivity and building a knowledge-based economy.
In practical terms, a US$500 billion economy requires a step change in the scale, quality and sophistication of investment. The Strategy envisages the anchor under the of: Agro-Industrial Development, Tourism, Mineral-based Development including Oil and Gas, and Science, Technology, Innovation and the Creative Industries. This area contributes about US$231 billion in economy-wide output, with other tradable and non-tradable sectors contributing the balance. These sectors must drive exports, technology adoption, productivity and investment.
C]. The Role of Financial Markets in Financing Uganda’s Tenfold Growth
No transformation can take place without capital. Plans, opportunities and ambition only become factories, infrastructure, businesses and jobs when they are backed by financing. The Tenfold ambition is therefore also a call to mobilize, allocate and manage capital more effectively.
Consider a coffee processor. At the first stage, the business may need working capital to purchase coffee and manage inventories. As it grows, it may require growth capital for processing capacity, packaging technology and certification. Once its cash flows become more predictable, it can access longer-term debt, and at a mature stage it may turn to equity markets. The same logic applies to hotels, mining projects and technology firms: the right form of capital must be available at the right stage of growth.
1. Mobilize and channel long-term domestic capital.
First, we must mobilize and channel more long-term domestic capital for investments. Uganda’s growing pool of pension, insurance and institutional savings should increasingly finance productive businesses and projects, including corporate debt, equity, private equity and infrastructure finance.
2. Attract and facilitate FDI and private investment.
Second, we must make Uganda more investible. Investors assess not only project economics, but also whether currency risk can be managed, local debt can be raised, returns can be repatriated transparently, and market infrastructure is reliable. Efficient foreign exchange markets, transparent pricing and credible hedging instruments therefore matter directly for investment.
3. Deepen risk-management in the financing markets.
Third, we must deepen risk management. As exports, imports, FDI, tourism, minerals, oil and gas expand, businesses and investors will face greater foreign exchange, interest-rate and commodity-price risks. The objective is not speculation; it is resilience. A tourism operator with dollar revenues and shilling costs, an importer with future foreign-currency obligations, or an exporter awaiting foreign-currency receipts should be able to manage risk in a transparent, well governed market.
4. Develop financing solutions for the new and higher-value economy.
Fourth, we must develop financing solutions for the new and higher-value economy. This includes venture and growth capital, sustainable finance, structured and commodity finance, and eventually commodity securities markets. For agriculture and minerals in particular, the opportunity is to finance the value chain beyond production - aggregation, storage, processing, trade facilitation and value addition. This will ensure that Uganda captures a greater share of the value generated from its resources and facilitate related economic activities.
5. Professional Capacity development
Finally, we must build professional capacity. Deeper markets require skilled, ethical and forward-looking practitioners who can price risk, manage liquidity, uphold market conduct standards and adapt international experience to Uganda’s circumstances. We cannot build tomorrow’s financial markets with yesterday’s skills.
D]. The BoU’s Commitment
The Bank’s commitment remains grounded in our mandate, “to maintain price stability and safeguard the soundness of the financial system in support socio-economic transformation”. This means creating conducive conditions in which enterprises thrive, and financial markets can deepen in an orderly, transparent and sustainable manner.
The Bank continues to maintain a stable macroeconomic environment and to act proactively to keep core inflation around its 5 percent target. Recent indicators show annual headline inflation at 4.0 percent and core inflation at 3.4 percent, while preliminary estimates place real GDP growth at 6.4 percent in FY2025/26.
These conditions matter because stable prices, predictable economic conditions and confidence in the exchange rate are the foundations upon which capital is priced, investment decisions are made and risks are managed.
We will continue strengthening the legal, regulatory and operational frameworks for money markets, foreign-exchange markets, Government securities markets and associated market infrastructure. We will also support responsible financial innovation, including sustainable finance, Islamic finance and other market-based solutions, while safeguarding financial stability and market integrity.
However, market development is a shared responsibility. The Bank can provide stability, policy credibility and an enabling environment. Commercial Banks, dealers and other market participants must bring capital, expertise, innovation, liquidity and discipline. The depth of our markets will depend on how well these responsibilities come together.
E]. The Tenfold growth strategy is an opportunity for the financial sector
The Tenfold Strategy will reshape the opportunity set for the financial sector. As the economy expands and diversifies, the financing needs of households, businesses and investors will also evolve. Institutions that invest early in sector knowledge, data, product innovation, risk-management capacity and professional skills will be better placed to serve the next generation of Ugandan enterprises.
Let me close with a direct call to action.
To the dealers: uphold the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and market conduct;
- invest continuously in your technical skills;
- deepen your understanding of the real economy sectors you serve; and
- help your clients manage risk responsibly rather than merely transact.
To the Commercial banks: move from product-selling to solution-building, through;
- developing financing structures that match the cash flows and risks of enterprises; support longer-term capital formation; and
- collaboration to build deeper, more transparent and more liquid markets.
Each institution represented here should ask itself four practical questions:
- Which sectors will create our future customers?
- What products and services will those customers require?
- What risks will they need help to manage? And
- what capabilities must we build today to serve them tomorrow?
If we answer these questions with urgency, integrity and imagination, Uganda’s financial markets will not only finance the Tenfold ambition; they will help make it possible.
Thank you very much.