The Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) is the principal

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. It was founded in June 1997. The USE is operated under the jurisdiction of Uganda's Capital Markets Authority, which in turn reports to the

Bank of Uganda The Bank of Uganda ( sw, Benki Kuu ya Uganda) is the central bank of Uganda. Established in 1966, by Act of Parliament, the bank is wholly owned by the government but is not a government department. History In 1979 and again in 1987, the Ba ...

, Uganda's

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

. The exchange opened to trading in January 1998. At that time, the exchange had just one listing, a bond issued by the

East African Development Bank The East African Development Bank (EADB) is a development finance institution with the objective of promoting development in the member countries of the East African Community. Overview EADB plays a threefold role of lender, adviser, and developm ...

. Trading was limited to only a handful of trades per week. As of July 2014, the USE traded 16 listed local and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

n companies and had started the trading of fixed income instruments. The exchange is a member of the

African Stock Exchanges Association ThAfrican Securities Exchanges Association(ASEA) was incorporated in 1993 in Nairobi (Republic of Kenya). ASEA's aim is to provide a formal framework for the mutual co-operation of securities exchanges in the African region. Its functions include th ...

. The USE operates in close association with the

Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) is a stock exchange located on Ohio Street, west of Kivukoni, south east of Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital and largest city in Tanzania. It was incorporated in September 1996 and trading started i ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, the

Rwanda Stock Exchange The Rwanda Stock Exchange Limited was incorporated on 7 October 2005 with the objective of carrying out stock market operations. The Stock Exchange was demutualized from the start as it was registered as a company limited by shares. The company ...

, and the

Nairobi Stock Exchange The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was established in 1954 as the Nairobi Stock Exchange, based in Nairobi the capital of Kenya. It was a voluntary association of stockbrokers in the European community registered under the Societies Act in ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. According to published reports in 2013, there were plans to integrate the four exchanges to form a single East African bourse. Uganda All Stock Index (ALSIUG) is the benchmark Index of the Uganda Securities Exchange.

Trading

A published report in February 2011 claimed that USE would increase trading to five days a week in March 2011. During the first quarter of 2010, the USE adopted the Settlement and Clearing Depository electronic trading system. According to a published report in January 2011, other electronic modalities were being considered for the exchange. In 2010, the USE was the best performing stock exchange in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, with an All-Shares Index return of 74 percent between January and November 2010. On 20 July 2015, the USE initiated its

electronic trading platform In finance, an electronic trading platform also known as an online trading platform, is a computer software program that can be used to place orders for financial products over a network with a financial intermediary. Various financial products c ...

, backed by three independent data servers, cutting to three days (previously five days) the time it takes to settle trades.

Market listing

Notes on market listings

(1) East African Breweries Limited, Kenya Airways and Jubilee Holdings, are primarily listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and are cross-listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. (2) Centum Investment Company Limited, Equity Group Holdings Limited, and Jubilee Holdings are listed primarily on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and are crosslisted on the USE. (3) Kenya Commercial Bank Group and Nation Media Group are listed primarily on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and are crosslisted on the USE, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, and the Rwanda Stock Exchange. (4) Uchumi Supermarkets, a regional supermarket retailer with headquarters in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, Kenya, is listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, is crosslisted on the USE and the Rwanda Stock Exchange, and plans to crosslist its shares on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. (5) Umeme, the largest electric power distributor in Uganda, is listed primarily on the USE and is crosslisted on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. (6) Equity Group Holdings Limited is listed primarily on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (2006). It is crosslisted on the USE (2009) and the Rwanda Stock Exchange (2015). (7) In February 2015, Ugandan media indicated that both Housing Finance Bank and Crane Bank, which had intended to list their shares on the USE, have since changed their plans and put their IPOs on hold.

Ownership

The exchange is owned by 16 stock brokers. In August 2016, a law was passed to allow the owners to sell shares in the stock exchange to members of the public through an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. On 18 May 2017, the USE demutualised and registered as a "public company, limited by shares". Its authorised share capital is USh 1 billion, consisting of 100 million shares of each. At incorporation, the paid up capital was USh 42 million, with each of the founding investor firms owning 6,000,000 shares, each valued at each. The shareholding in the

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

of the Uganda Securities Exchange is as depicted in the table below. Note The totals are slightly off due to rounding.

References

External links