The Authority conducts campaigns to ensure investors (potential and existing) and issuers are better informed about the opportunities for investment and capital raising in the capital markets in Uganda, and across the East African region.
Targeting potential investors
Currently, the Authority is conducting a campaign aimed at reaching out directly to potential investors through an interactive face-to-face presentation. The aim of this campaign is to increase knowledge and understanding of the capital markets among the public, which is expected to result into and increased number of investors in the market. To this end, CMA contracted over twenty resource persons who included current and former industry practitioners as well as experienced advisors and investment professionals to reach out to groups of people across the country. The presentations target people who have disposable income, and therefore the capacity to invest in the short term. Groups such as Rotary Clubs, Investment Clubs and SACCOs, professional and non professional associations, as well as private, NGO and Government organizations that employ people have been targeted for this engagement.
Between July 2014 to June 2016, over 15,000 people had been reached out to during such engagements and some of these have already gone ahead to open up Securities Central Depositories accounts with the brokers and started investing in the various products. The presentations were carried out across the country.
The presentation mainly entails a brief about what capital markets are about, the opportunities available in Uganda and the wider East African capital markets, how, when and where one would go if they wanted to invest, the benefits and risks involved in each of the products, and nuggets of investment.
As a regulator, CMA is keen to ensure that the information shared with investors gives a wide understanding of what the market is all about, giving both the good and the ugly side of the market so that investors can make well informed decisions, once they engage with the licensed investment advisers and/or brokers.
Reaching out to potential issuers
CMA has also made deliberate efforts to target owners/ entrepreneurs, directors and CEOs of firms doing business in Uganda to educate them about the opportunities for raising long term patient capital from Uganda’s capital markets. This is done by securing appointments with the various institutional heads/ management who then give the Management of the CMA an opportunity to share more information with the business owners, either through a Board meeting or other organised sessions.
Presentations to potential issuers vary depending on the potential issuer’s industry or sector, and their capacity to raise financing which is based on information available in the public domain.
How can you be part of the campaign?
The CMA together with the resource persons seek appointments from institutional heads to organise these sessions but is also open to calls from the various institutions to offer this information as and when the potential investor or issuer may need it. This effort is coordinated by the Research and Market Development Department and the CEO’s office.
