“Umeme began an initial public offering of a 38.6 percent stake on Oct. 15 at 275 Ugandan shillings (1 U.S. cent) a share. The offer for 622.4 million shares closes Nov. 7 and will be followed by listing on the Uganda Securities Exchange in the capital, Kampala, on Nov. 30. The shares will also list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange after regulatory approval.” bloomberg.com
I have for long followed IPOs and stock markets alas for American based companies, such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, since these are at the center of Tech! Given that many Ugandans are yet to connect to the electricity grid, one sign of a big market, it is good to see Umeme an energy company with a lot of prospects of growth, going through an IPO and trading on Uganda Securities Exchange.
Uganda has telecoms among the most profitable and actually the biggest companies. Unfortunately Ugandans have hardly had a chance to invest in such companies as MTN given that MTN Group is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and not on USE hence making it hard for Ugandans in Uganda to invest in such a profitable group. Nevertheless, I have a dream that one day soon MTN (Uganda) will trade on Uganda Security Exchange!