Investment clubs get national body

Mar 16, 2012

THE ministry of finance is leading efforts to bolster the country’s savings culture and central to these efforts is the creation of a national association of investment clubs

By Samuel Sanya

THE ministry of finance is leading efforts to bolster the country’s savings culture and central to these efforts is the creation of a national association of investment clubs. 

Peter Ngategize, the Competitiveness and Investment Culture Strategy (CICS) national coordinator represented the finance ministry as a total seven members were chosen from a cross-section of investment clubs to form an interim committee.  

Chairing the committee is Ann Muhangi from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), alongside members Dunstan Kisuule from investment group Y-save, Pascal Ojijo from Informed investors, Martin Muhwezi of the investors club and Damalie Mukiibi from DFCU bank.

 “This is the only way we are going to liberate ourselves. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) should be the home of the investment clubs. It is time that the CMA begins to compete with commercial banks,” said Peter Karuiki, the Kenya Association of Investment Groups boss said. 

He was the keynote speaker at the investment clubs workshop at the grand imperial hotel in Kampala. 

Investment groups also known as Kyama’s in Kenya hold close to Ksh100b (sh2.9trillion) with one in every three Kenyans belonging to these communal savings and investment groups. 

In direct contrast, Uganda’s savings culture is relatively weak with the only operational unit trust fund having closed shop this month after falling short of a sh5b target in savings by sh3b. 

The investment clubs body is expected to rally Uganda’s into a massive savings and investment drive with some groups like Y-save already holding more than sh1b in savings. 

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