As the world moves towards the adaptation of financial technology (Fintech) to facilitate development in all sectors, shrewd investors are now turning their focus to financial institutions as their investment choices.

This was evidenced in Wednesday’s trading at the Uganda Stock Market where Telecommunications Mogul Charles Mbire acquired a huge stake in Bank of Baroda through a single purchase of 23,529,400 shares worth over sh1.9b at sh85 each.

Mbire now adds banking to his long list of investments which include Telecommunications (MTN) which is currently trading on the Uganda Securities Exchange where he boasts of a 4 percent share value worth over $55 million. His other investments include Logistics (FF), Revenue Assurance- Invesco, Oil services - INVESCO Tech, Real Estate and oil exploration.

Officials at Uganda Securities Exchange were upbeat about Wednesday’s trading activities on the stock market.

One of them who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “The world is moving towards the use of fintech to enhance development in all sectors. To a man like Mbire, the acquisition of such a substantial stake in Bank of Baroda can only be done after a careful evaluation of the global business trends. With that kind of shares, Mbire is probably the biggest individual shareholder at the bank of Baroda.”

Bank of Baroda Uganda, initially wholly owned by Bank of India is one of the most robust banks in Uganda, ranked by the World Bank as one of the top 1000 banks in the world.

The icing on the cake for Mbire is that by buying his shares ahead of the of next week's book closure on 21 July, he will qualify to for sh235m in dividends due to shareholders. The BOBU board has recommended a sh10 per share dividend, which is expected to be assented to at the AGM on 22 July and payable by 4 August.

"In purely mathematical terms Mbire will earn about 11.75% on his money but when annualised almost 200%,” one analyst said.