Welcome to the last week of May, Briefing readers!
Let’s start with quotes:
“Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes,” Voltaire.
“It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can’t remember if it’s the thirteenth or the fourteenth,” George Burns. (Don’t just interpret this literally)
Museveni meets MTN Chairman, CEO
President Yoweri Museveni met with MTN Group Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko and Rob Shuter, the Group CEO to discuss wide-ranging issues that have affected MTN Uganda operations, including the delayed renewal of its license.
According to the Independent Magazine, the meeting was held on May 13. It should be recalled that on March 13, when Shuter was in Uganda for the Africa Now Summit, accompanied by other senior officials, he met with Museveni for the second time this year and a number of things were agreed upon, including holding another meeting.
So, this time Shuter returned with Nhleko who the Independent described as a “super negotiator” for his role in helping reduce, by a third, the fine the Nigerian authorities had slapped on the largest telecommunications group in Africa for its under-handed operations in West Africa’s largest economy.
The Independent reports that meeting was positive and Museveni decided to hand over the remaining part of negotiations to the Ministry of Finance and Uganda Communications Commission.
Meanwhile, The Independent, quoting a statement, reports that Anthony Katamba was fired from MTN Uganda because the company had lost trust in his “ability to execute your current role as General Manager Corporate Services.”
Katamba, who was replaced by Enid Edroma, has since appealed to KCCA to intervene in his issues with the telco.
Read the full story here
SafeBoda, GoJek
SafeBoda, in a social media post, has displayed optimism about its recent deal with GoJek, an Indonesian ride-hailing firm. Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group, a German multinational financial services company, also contributed to the Series B round.
SafeBoda says the expertise of both firms in ride-hailing, fintech, and mobile platforms will help it move faster towards its ambitions, notable among them expanding across the continent and venturing into delivery services.
Jobs at Andela
Andela is hiring for its units in Kigali and Kampala. There is one vacancy in Kigali and three in Kampala.
Check them out here.
Leapfrog Ventures to invest US$700m in Africa, Asia
Leapfrog Ventures has announced a US$700m fund that it will invest in Asia and Africa, focusing on healthcare and financial services.
The venture firm has already invested in over twenty ventures, including Xente and Swipe2Pay from Uganda.
Read the full report here
Digital stamps suffer setback
The proposed rollout of the digital stamp by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) suffered a setback because of an injunction issued by the Commercial court blocking the entire exercise, reports the Independent.
URA was expected to roll out the digital stamp by the end of April targeting high-risk products like cigarettes, Beers, wines, spirits, sodas, and mineral water.
Read the full story here
Related:
Christopher Ssali named MTN Uganda acting Mobile Money chief
Chipper Cash assures on swift cross-border money transfer as it adds new features
