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 ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. 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, Uganda's

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

. 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 regional development finance institution located in Kampala, Uganda with the objective of promoting development in the member countries of the East African Community. The current member states of th ...

. 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, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n companies and had started the trading of fixed income instruments. The exchange is a member of the African Stock Exchanges Association. The USE operates in close association with the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, the Rwanda Stock Exchange, and the Nairobi Stock Exchange in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. 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 the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

, 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 ...

, 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 city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, 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 investm ...

. 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 Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

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

References

External links