HiPipo Money

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·         Citadel Capital Managing Director Karim Sadek participated in the opening panel of the EMPEA/FT “Private Equity in Africa” conference to discuss factors driving economic opportunities on the continent and the investment opportunities that they present

Karim Sadek, Managing Director of Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA on the EGX), the leading investment company in Africa and the Middle East with US$ 9.5 billion in investments under control, participated in a panel discussion entitled “Africa’s Economic Promise” at the 2013 EMPEA/FT Private Equity in Africa conference in London.   

 “The World Economic Forum estimates that the GDP of sub-Saharan Africa could increase by 35.7% by 2017 to reach US$ 1.9 trillion. When combined with factors such as a one billion strong consumer market, a large working age population and a commodities boom that is fueling exports, Africa is already attracting unprecedented levels of FDI, said Citadel Capital Managing Director Karim Sadek.

 “Supportive policy makers are also starting to make things easier for investors. Today, governments across the region are opening previously hands-off strategic sectors such as power generation, energy distribution, refining and large transportation projects to private equity investors,” he added. 

Citadel Capital, a pioneer investor in Africa’s infrastructure, is currently in the process of a strategic transformation from a private equity firm into a regional investment holding company focusing on five core industries, including energy, transportation, agrifoods, mining, and cement. As an investment holding company Citadel Capital is focused on a specific set of sectors and themes within its core African geography primarily in North and East Africa. The new holding company structure allows Citadel Capital to pursue longer-term strategies where it can add greater value.

 “Our transformation into an investment holding company and the change in strategy that this entails is particularly well suited to the nature of our current and future investments in Africa,” said Sadek. “As large-scale, long-term investors in Africa’s infrastructure we are now better able to bring in the capital and expertise needed to improve Africa’s competitive advantage in the global economy.”

 The firm’s footprint and emphasis remains unchanged: large-scale investments across Egypt, East Africa and North Africa. Citadel Capital’s investments in Africa not only make sense for firm but also contribute to the economic development of the continent as a whole. 

 “As one of the few large-scale firms actively investing in Africa in industries that are of vital importance to regional governments, we hope to continue receiving widespread regional and international support to deliver on and grow our investments, which help governments tackle pressing national problems. Achieving growth is important, but it must be inclusive growth for a larger portion of the population,” said Sadek.

 Citadel Capital’s African investments include Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the national railway of Kenya and Uganda. As the operator of RVR, Citadel Capital and its co-investors are implementing a turnaround program, which includes an upgrade of operational systems, a rehabilitation of existing assets and the addition of new assets to the fleet.

 RVR recently completed the building of 73 kilometers of new railway track between Mombasa and Nairobi costing US$20 million (KES 1.7 billion [Kenyan Shillings, kshs]) to improve the reliability and speed of cargo delivery by rail from Mombasa. Completion of the railway modernization project has reduced cargo delivery time between Mombasa and Nairobi by six hours through rebuilding the most badly rundown sections, which were responsible for 60% of blockage time on the rail line.

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Air Uganda in conjunction with the leading Mobile Money service provider MTN today introduced a new, fast and convenient mobile money payment option on its billing platform.

The new payment option enables customers to pay for their air tickets using their MTN mobile phones. The move comes as part of Air Uganda’s desire to empower more people to fly by offering better services and easy access to these services. The airline aims at making air travel affordable and accessible to all and hence the introduction of this mobile money payment platform.

The mobile money payment platform is a new addition to other payment platforms provided by Air Uganda to facilitate customers pay for air tickets faster and easier.

Speaking at the unveiling of the mobile Money payment platform the Air Uganda CEO Mr. Cornwell Muleya said: ‘Using MTN Mobile Money, our customers can now pay for air tickets and   fly!  At Air Uganda we want to empower our customers, so we introducing innovative products and technologies to ease the travel experience for the customer. This mobile money platform is easy to use, convenient, reliable and fast. It will save our customers a lot time, since they can now buy tickets from wherever they are.”

Ease of access to Air Uganda’s products and services by customers is part of the Airline’s strategy. The Mobile money payment platform is a great achievement in this direction.   Customers will be able to pay for their tickets without having to physically visit the airline’s sales outlets. The new service is set to revolutionize how Ugandans purchase their air tickets. This service is available to all MTN Mobile money users across the country.

Addressing journalists at the unveiling ceremony MTN Chief Marketing Officer Ernst Fonternel welcomed the partnership with Air Uganda adding that they are a new addition to a number of other stakeholders who have partnered with MTN Mobile Money to deliver convenience to over 8 million customers on the MTN network.

Fonternel said since the launch of  the service five years back, MTN Mobile Money has enjoyed unprecedented success, registering in excess of 28million transactions each month with more than 4.7 million customers active on Mobile Money.

“As per the GSMA 2012 Global Mobile Money adoption survey, MTN Uganda ranks 2nd in the world in the of number of active Mobile Money customer accounts. Today, as we launch this partnership with Air Uganda, I’m hopeful that the Airline’s customers will find MTN Mobile Money an easy, convenient, safe and secure service,” Mr. Fonternel said.

From all indications, the new payment option is not only intended to bring increased operational efficiency and cost effectiveness for the airline, but also greater convenience for the travelling public.

Introducing the platform is a further assurance for consumers that Air Uganda is always one step ahead in ensuring reliability and convenience when serving customers. In recent months the airline has grown its network, introduced new and improved products and improved service standards to match the challenges and growth of the regional aviation industry. Air Uganda remains committed to its goals, which are based on high safety standards, efficacy and reliability. With the introduction of this payment option, Air Uganda has taken another giant stride towards consolidating its position as a leading Ugandan and regional carrier.

About Air Uganda

Air Uganda was founded in 2007 and operates scheduled flights from its Entebbe hub throughout East Africa. The destinations served include Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Kigali, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa, and Nairobi. The airline recently launched direct flights from Entebbe to Mogadishu on July 8, 2013. Air Uganda operates a homogeneous fleet of 50 seater CRJ 200 aircraft.

Air Uganda is the home based carrier for Uganda and is a member of the Celestair Group, which is owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED).  AKFED is an international development agency dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and building economically sound enterprises in the developing world. AKFED focuses on building enterprises in parts of the world that lack sufficient foreign direct investment.

AKFED is in turn part of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of development agencies with mandates that include the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalization of historic

About MTN Uganda

Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading communications operator in Uganda, offering Mobile and Fixed telecommunications, Mobile Money Services and Internet Service Provisioning. As of 30 June 2013, MTN Uganda recorded 8 million subscribers across Uganda. Visit us at www.mtn.co.ug  and for our football fans www.mtnfootball.com . Customers can also follow us on www.youtube.com/mtnug  and www.twitter.com/mtnugandacare  for assistance.

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN”. As of 30 June 2013, MTN recorded 201.5 million subscribers across 22 countries. Visit us at www.mtn.com .

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Tusker Project Fame season 6 returned back to our screens on Sunday Night in a revamped and interactive format as the best musical talent from across East Africa that shall be battling out for the UGX 150million were unveiled. Uganda has 4 contestants in the TPF 6 academy this time round – Sitenda Kisakye, Derrick Kojjo, Daisy Ejang and the Undercover Bothers duo of Mulungi and Kirya. They shall be battling out with 11 other contestants from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan. The judges this year are Ian Mbugua from Kenya, Juliana Kanyomozi from Ugandan and Hermes from Tanzania. The show also has a new host in Joey Muthengi from Kenya who shall be co-hosting alongside the seasoned Dr. Mitch Egwang from Tanzania. The first nomination show shall be on Sunday 20th October, 2013 with the at least 4 contestants being put on probation. This year, the voting process has been changed with every country having a block vote and this will make the competition even tougher.

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Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, announced its official sponsorship of UGS 200,000,000 for the MTN for the annual Marathon 2013 themed “Run for Water”. A team comprising the company’s management and staff will also run in the marathon.

 “We highly appreciate MTN for creating such an excellent platform for responsible enterprises operating in Uganda to participate, and to share the opportunity to do something meaningful for the Ugandan people- giving back to the local communities,” Said Radoslaw Kedzia, Managing Director of Huawei in Uganda. “The marathon’s theme for this year Run for Water is in line with the 7^th Millennium Development goal of Ensuring environmental sustainability with water being a key challenge in most African countries.” He added.

A member of the UN Global compact, Huawei will be participating in the MTN marathon for the second time after last year under the theme Run for life where the company contributed UGS 168,000,000.  Proceeds from last year’s marathon went towards the provision of clean water and the rehabilitation of water sources for the re-located Bududa Landslide victims in Kiryandongo re-settlement camp.

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Organized by Vision Group, Pakasa Forum is scheduled to take place on October26 at Kampala Parents Auditorium from 9.00am to 1pm; and will be addressed by a first class panel, with a wealth of experience.

Given the rate of unemployment in Uganda, this forum will definitely be useful equipping young people with knowledge and information concerning opportunities in our economy and how they can explore them to earn a living.

 It will be addressed by prominent Ugandans who according to Vision Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Kabushenga, “who know where opportunities for earning a living are and explain them to the general public.”

The Pakasa Forum panel includes Amama Mbabazi, the Prime Minister of Uganda; Phillip Odera, Managing Director (MD), Stanbic Bank; Richard Byarugaba, the MD, National Social Security Fund (NSSF); Mazen Mroué, the CEO, MTN Uganda; Jennifer Musisi, the Executive Director, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Bruce Robertson, South African producer dealer (Cotton and Simsim) in Uganda and Marino, a young wrought iron fabricator.

The forum is as diverse as it is experienced in different fields of human endeavor. Take a look at Hon. Amama Mbabazi for example. He is prominent lawyer and one of the most successful politicians in this country. If anyone should explain opportunities in the economy, then it is him.

The other interesting figure is Jennifer Musisi, the Executive Director of KCCA. Jennifer is known by many for being practical and transformational. Over such a short period of time, she has managed to score visible successes in the city.

No objective eye can skip MTN’s Mazen Mroue, one of the most successful Africans in the field of telecommunications. He is widely respected and has scored success over the years in Ghana, Liberia and now Uganda.

In all, this is a first class panel that should be able to unveil useful knowledge to Ugandans, especially the young ones who want to have an economic breakthrough.

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Organized by Vision Group, Pakasa Forum is scheduled to take place on October26 at Kampala Parents Auditorium from 9.00am to 1pm; and will be addressed by a first class panel, with a wealth of experience.

Given the rate of unemployment in Uganda, this forum will definitely be useful equipping young people with knowledge and information concerning opportunities in our economy and how they can explore them to earn a living.

 It will be addressed by prominent Ugandans who according to Vision Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Kabushenga, “who know where opportunities for earning a living are and explain them to the general public.”

The Pakasa Forum panel includes Amama Mbabazi, the Prime Minister of Uganda; Phillip Odera, Managing Director (MD), Stanbic Bank; Richard Byarugaba, the MD, National Social Security Fund (NSSF); Mazen Mroué, the CEO, MTN Uganda; Jennifer Musisi, the Executive Director, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Bruce Robertson, South African producer dealer (Cotton and Simsim) in Uganda and Marino, a young wrought iron fabricator.

The forum is as diverse as it is experienced in different fields of human endeavor. Take a look at Hon. Amama Mbabazi for example. He is prominent lawyer and one of the most successful politicians in this country. If anyone should explain opportunities in the economy, then it is him.

The other interesting figure is Jennifer Musisi, the Executive Director of KCCA. Jennifer is known by many for being practical and transformational. Over such a short period of time, she has managed to score visible successes in the city.

No objective eye can skip MTN’s Mazen Mroue, one of the most successful Africans in the field of telecommunications. He is widely respected and has scored success over the years in Ghana, Liberia and now Uganda.

In all, this is a first class panel that should be able to unveil useful knowledge to Ugandans, especially the young ones who want to have an economic breakthrough.

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The GUINNESS FOOTBALL MANAGER game that is giving football lovers the chance to ‘Be the Boss’ of their own fantasy football team has unveiled  Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero as Roberto Di Matteo’s Player Made of More for week 9 of the English Premier League.

Making the announcement, Roberto Di Matteo said, “Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero had a terrific match against West Ham at the weekend, scoring the first goal after 16 minutes with just the keeper to beat, before grabbing a second just after half time.  On another day he could have had a hat-trick!  For this performance and for helping to move City back into the top four, Sergio Aguero is the Roberto Di Matteo Player Made of More for week 9 and any managers with him in their team earn extra points.” 

The Player Made of More is the player picked weekly by Roberto Di Matteo who, in his opinion, has stepped up and delivered a bold performance in one of the games over the last week. In addition, anyone playing the Guinness Football Manager game and who has this player in their team will be awarded extra points.

Guinness Uganda will be awarding the top Managers for the month of September this week with Manager of the Month getting UGX 1.5million and a DSTV Walka 7. Managers of the week will get a DSTV Walka 3.5 and a crate of Guinness to share with friends.

The Guinness Football Manager is a free to play, fantasy football league like no other – you pick the team, you call the shots, you get the glory!  There are great prizes to be won, weekly and monthly and all you need to do to play is sign up to GUINNESS VIP at m.guinnessvip.com select your fantasy team and show us what you’re made of!

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Dr. Charles Mbire receiving the Pearl of Africa Lifetime Achievers Award 2013 from Prime Minister Hon. Amama Mbabazi.   Right is General Pecos Kuteesa and   extreme left is Mr. Bonny Katatumba, Chairman of Pearls of Africa Lifetime Achievement Awards Committee.

MTN Chairman Dr. Charles Mbire has been honoured with an Award as the most Respected and Inspiring Business Leader in Uganda in the Pearl of Africa Lifetime Achievement Award 2013. The ceremony which took place at Imperial Royal Hotel Kampala was presided over by the Prime Minister of Uganda Hon. Amama Mbabazi.

Dr. Mbire’s name is synonymous with successful businesses in Uganda including MTN Uganda.

Dr. Charles Mbire remained a consistent, astute and honest businessman, entrepreneur and industrialist in Uganda. He is reported to be the wealthiest indigenous Ugandan, with an estimated net worth in excess of US$65 million, as of December 2008

Mbire traces his origins to Mparo, Kabale District, in southwestern Uganda. He studied business and economics and graduated with Honors from Essex University in England. He went on to obtain a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Leicester University, also in the United Kingdom. His investments range from telecommunications, finance, energy, real estate, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness and transportation.

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The MTN Group sponsored- One Young World Summit came to a conclusion in Johannesburg, the City of Gold and what a great affair it was. It was full of colour, music, and jubilation. It is the first time that an event of this kind has made its way to Africa. I was proudly sponsored by MTN to attend this summit.

It was heartwarming to be a part of this great movement; the kind that looks to bring positive change to the world. For a while the feelings were very hard to put into words. The deputy Mayor of the Johannesburg City started by saying that the city was elated to be able to showcase their investment in the youth and the future.

A group of prominent people gave their time and expertise to talk and share experiences with us, the young people. The Counsellors who spoke during the Opening Ceremony did so with so much passion and conviction. It was not just another United Nations assembly that Kofi Annan was addressing. He referred to us as leaders; leaders that need to take on the affairs of the world. In his remarks he said: “Together with your colleagues you embody the talent and energy that is driving change evolution around the world. The technology you use allows you to bridge boarders; national boarders no longer contain you. You think more deeply about the future. There is good reason for your generation to think deeply about the fate of our planet. If we continue to plunder it, it is your children that will have to pay the price. We need you to stir the present generation of leaders forward; we need you to accept the mantle of leadership to drive change and to remind us all that in a globalized world, we sink or swim together.”

Kofi Annan was not talking to us, the young people, as the rest of the world views us; the self-absorbed generation. He was addressing people who know what they want from life and aim to make a difference. His confidence in all of the young minds gathered in the stadium was reflected in his speech.

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi banker, economist and Noble Peace Prize winner. He spoke to us as well. When he stood up to speak, he admonished us to be the history that we want our children to know and learn about. Do not waste your power he said, “You are the most powerful kind of generation. Feel the power, it is in you. You are lucky because you are born in the age, where the impossible will become possible. Today each one of you is capable of changing the whole world. If you do not use your power, it will be wasted. Do not waste your power.”

He went on to share his experiences with us: “When I was a young teacher in Bangladesh, the country was going through a bad famine. People dying from not having any food; hundreds of thousands of people died. And we were told by world leaders that Bangladesh is a lost cause. That there was no need to pay attention to that country. This year, Bangladesh has come out with big news that it has achieved the Millennium Development Goal Number One, reducing poverty by half before 2015. If that country can achieve this miracle, any country in the world can do it and will make it happen. That is what the youth can do, you are a different kind of generation.”

He got everyone clapping when he said that come 2030, there will be a ‘poverty museum’. “We will have a great museum like we have a stadium here that will show what poverty used to be, because there will be no more poverty.”

Sir Bob Geldof had no kind words when he got up to speak. His words were a clear indication that yes in our everyday world we need to get tough love as well.

“All of the singing, all the fun, all the colors will be nothing if you leave this Summit without intent, intent to leave this Summit and create change. All generations fail, but my generation has failed more disgracefully than any other. Progress is endless, you must try to understand the problems that we face are rarely local; they are global,” he said.

Everyone spoke from their hearts, the emotion was real. They want a better world for all of us and they are counting on us, the young leaders, to help them accomplish this. And yet, this was only just the start of the three day long One Young World Summit. It was a re-awakening, the kind that jolts you back into position ready for battle. I am inspired to do better, change the world, to tell the African story even better, because I am all the change that the world needs.

I thank you MTN for this opportunity.

Commenting on the event, Anthony Katamba, MTN Uganda’s General Manager Corporate Services said MTN is committed to continue supporting young people and the media fraternity both locally and on the continent as a whole, to gain more exposure by attending high profile international summits such as the just ended Young World Summit.

“We are proud of the immense contribution of MTN in enabling a cross section of African professionals and in particular a young upcoming Ugandan journalist to be part of critical reflection and engagement at the global stage on leadership and media issues.  Just recently we sponsored three Ugandan journalists to the 2013 Highway Africa Conference again in Johannesburg. This is the world’s largest gathering of African journalists to address challenges facing African journalists and assess the impact of technological changes on the media”, said Katamba.

He added that this is something MTN Uganda will continue doing as a commitment to our support for impactful leadership in all sectors in the country and Africa at large,”

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On Tuesday 8 October 2013, MultiChoice Uganda announced the country winners of the third edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards competition at a prize giving ceremony held at their offices in Kampala. The awards are aimed at inspiring innovative thinking among secondary and high school students in Africa, to create awareness on how science and technology can be applied to everyday life, and to showcase the many ways that satellites already impact on the development of the African continent.

Victor Okoth, a student of St Mary’s College Kisubi came out top in the Best Entry Award category with an essay entry which impressed the judges with its creativity. The essay was titled “Unlocking Africa’s growth potential with satellites” and will be competing with entries from other countries on the continent for the overall prize which is a once in a lifetime trip for two to the Eutelsat facilities in Paris, France. Angel Gabriella Atim, a student of Bishop Cipriano Kihangire S.S.S came out top in the Best Poster Entry category with an entry titled “Actualising dreams throughout the Global village.” Both entrants won a Samsung notebook. Barbara Lamara of Gayaza High School and Pius Talemwa of Mengo S.S.S came in as runners up in the Essay and Poster categories respectively and won Samsung Duos phones each.

Speaking at the award ceremony, MultiChoice Uganda PR Manager Tina Wamala said, “The DStv Eutelsat awards were created with the aim of inspiring innovative thinking among secondary school students, to create awareness on how science and technology can be applied to everyday life, and to show the many ways that satellites already impact the development of the African continent.  With education as a key focus of our corporate social investment programmes, our decision to initiate this competition with Eutelsat created a natural synergy which was able to stimulate education and interest around satellites and their possible applications in Africa. We thank all the participating schools and students as well as our distinguished judges without whom this competition would not be a success.”

The judging panel members, comprised  of Judging Chairperson Christine Mugimba, Uganda Communications Commission Spectrum Manager; Prof James Latingi, Makerere University Lecturere in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Mr James Kasigwa, Ag. Commissioner Broadcasting Infrastructure, Ministry of Information & Communications Technology Ministry of ICT; Mr James Amatre, English teacher from Nabisunsa representing the Ministry of Education and Sports.

Commenting on the quality of entries received, Prof Lating said, “We received a number of entries from across the country and were quite impressed by the quality of entries which exhibited a lot of creativity and research done by the students. On behalf of the judges, we are delighted and honoured to have been involved in promoting science and technology in schools. The winning entry essay showed passion and demonstrated a good understanding of satellites. There was accurate detail of how satellites can be used in a story telling format, and the ideas were unique and practical. We hope that this essay will go on to take top prize on a continental level.”

The Awards are leveraged off MultiChoice’s Resource Centre programme which has been established in over 1000 schools across Sub Sahara Africa to improve teaching and learning processes by equipping these schools with audio-visual educational equipment and MultiChoice education bouquet channels such as National Geographic, the History Channel and Mind-set Learn.