Finance Minister Henry Musasizi has urged Uganda’s capital markets to play a bigger role in mobilising long-term financing required to transform the economy into a $500 billion economy by 2040.
Musasizi made the call on Tuesday during the launch of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) 30th anniversary celebrations at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala.
He said Uganda’s capital markets had grown over the past three decades from a nascent industry into an increasingly important component of the country’s financial system.
By August 2026, domestic market capitalisation stood at Shs24.28 trillion, while the corporate bond market had mobilised about Shs290 billion. Collective Investment Schemes had also accumulated about Shs7.08 trillion in assets under management.
Musasizi said the figures reflected growing participation in formal investment, increased access to alternative sources of finance by businesses and the expanding role of capital markets in mobilising long-term capital.
He said the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy, which targets a $500 billion economy by 2040, would require huge amounts of long-term financing to support infrastructure development, industrialisation, commercial agriculture, tourism, energy, housing, manufacturing, technology and innovation.
“This ambition cannot be achieved through Government expenditure or bank financing alone,” Musasizi said, stressing the need for deeper and more effective capital markets.
He also urged Ugandans to shift from a culture of saving to investment, saying improved financial literacy and investor education were necessary to enable ordinary citizens to access investment opportunities and safeguard their savings.
Musasizi said investor protection should remain central to the development of the capital markets, supported by strong disclosure requirements, market surveillance, enforcement, corporate governance and public awareness.
CMA chief executive officer Josephine Okui Ossiya said the authority had grown from a small institution into a key player in connecting Uganda’s savings with investment opportunities.
Ossiya said during the first year of CMA’s new five-year strategic plan, 63 per cent of the 43 strategic indicators had been achieved or exceeded, while work-plan implementation stood at 99.5 per cent.
She said assets under Collective Investment Schemes had reached about Shs7 trillion, while total funds mobilised through the capital markets stood at approximately Shs23.4 trillion.
Public understanding of capital markets had also increased to 60.8 per cent, while Collective Investment Scheme investor accounts had reached 241,000, she said.
Ossiya added that domestic capitalisation of the Uganda Securities Exchange had surpassed Shs15 trillion and that CMA regulates more than 160 licensed market participants.
Japheth Katto, CMA’s first chief executive officer, said the authority’s biggest achievement over the past 30 years was proving that a capital market could work in Uganda.
He said the growth of the sector demonstrated the potential of capital markets to contribute to the country’s economic development by linking savings to productive investment.
