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3^rd December, 2012

Press Release 

RVR the concessionaire for the Uganda-Kenya Railway has released plans to rehabilitate the Tororo Pakwach line. The Northern line which has been out of operation for the last 18years due to insecurity and vandalism runs between.  Tororo – Mbale – Kumi – Soroti – Lira – Gulu – Packwach, a distance about 500km.

Announcing the development in a press release today the General Manager of RVR Uganda Mr. Mark Rumanyika said “the Northern line is a very important part of our concession and will play an increasingly strategic role in our business development going forward. Landlocked Southern Sudan has recently become independent, commercially viable Hydro Carbons have been discovered in the Albertine Graben and peace has returned to the North meaning that the potential for business growth is virtually unlimited”.

He continued, “The work on the Northern line which will cost almost 2 million dollars commenced on the 19^th November 2012 and will use a three- phased approach. The first phase which includes clearing of bushes, weeding, and removal of anthills will be undertaken by Kato contractors, a Ugandan Engineering company. Kato contractors will employ local communities to do the work.  The second phase will involve restoration of washed out areas due to flooding especially in Soroti and installation of new culverts where required. The final phase will involve replacement of vandalized locations.” A total of 10% of the line needs to be restored.

“The contractor has hit the ground running and we are confident they will start registering significant progress. RVR is working very close to the Government to ensure the project is a success because we both understand the stakes involved and potential impact this project can have on the Northern region, to the country and the East African community as a whole. Opening up the central economies to the rest of the world is one of the most important aspects of the East African integration project EAC and we fully intend to play our part in accelerating this process” Rumanyika said.

Talking about the scale of the project and expected timelines, the MD of Kato Engineering noted that “rehabilitation of the Northern line will be a challenging project given the length of the line and the amount of time it has been non- operational, we are however confident of beating the nine month contractual deadline of the 25^th of August 2013”.

Rehabilitation of the Northern Railway line in Uganda is one of the major transformation projects aimed at improving the business RVR has undertaken in the last year, others include; repair and replacement of nine major culverts between Busembatia & Jinja in Uganda, overhaul of 365 wagons in a KFW funded project, overhaul of 8 locomotives, the replacement of 70km of railway line between Mombasa & Nairobi, the Automatic Train warranty project as other business process improvement projects that RVR rolled out this year.

About RVR

Rift Valley Railways (RVR) is the Kenya-Uganda concessionaire operating freight and passenger rail services in Kenya and Uganda on an exclusive basis. The company was founded in 2006 and has been granted a 25 year mandate to operate railway services on 2,000 kilometers of track linking the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya with the interiors of both Kenya and Uganda, including Kampala.

RVR is owned by the following shareholders: Citadel Capital, through its subsidiary Ambiance Ventures 51%; TransCentury, through its subsidiary Safari Rail Limited 34% and Bomi Holdings 15%.

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Press Release —

Kampala, Uganda – 6th December, 2012

MTN Uganda partnered with KPMG, for the second time in October 2011 to sponsor this 12 months professional training. The training was aimed at providing Financial Literacy for the selected Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and is strategically aimed at improving and therefore growing the economy of our country and was completed in October 2012.

The 100 selected SMEs completed the training and were awarded certificates at a special MTN Business Gala dinner held in their honour and presided over by the Minister of Finance- Honourable Maria Kiwanuka.

Over the years there has been a phenomenal growth particularly in the SME market and this has formed the backbone of Uganda’s economic growth. It is with this in mind that MTN has chosen to consistently support this section of the economy.

The training that was carried out by a specialized team of consultants from MTN’s partners KPMG was well suited for the participants. It covered a number of topics ranging from creating and preserving wealth, book keeping and personnel management through business planning and strategy development.

MTN Chief Executive Officer, Mazen Mroué said the training is strategically aimed at building new human resources capacity and therefore supporting the overall growth of the  economy. MTN is the Number 1 Mobile Telecommunication company in the country, has led the way in defining the business landscape with innovative initiatives working cooperatively with the Ugandan government to continue to transform Uganda for the better.

“The state of Uganda’s economy is such that SMEs have increasingly become one of the economy’s leading drivers of this country’s revenue with over 60% of revenue being generated by medium sized companies. MTN Uganda recognizes the opportunity to support these companies in their efforts to not only better their lives but also to promote the economic growth of our country,” he said.

The youth of Uganda are innovative and creative however the greatest hindrance to economic and industrial development is financial restrictions.

Lack of adequate finances isn’t alone in holding back the economic development of our country. The lack of adequate and professional training for individuals who are earnestly interested in improved economic standing is majorly affecting our business-minded and oriented citizens.

With one year to receive training and then implement the contents of the business training, MTN together with KPMG monitors the performance of the participating companies and at the end of one year, rewards these companies accordingly.

Unfortunately, over 70% of Medium and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) always wind up businesses before celebrating their first year in operation due to lack of proper business practices.

Mroué said MTN is proud to bring this once in a lifetime opportunity to the selected applicants of this program at absolutely no cost.

 “This one-year programme has enabled business owners to benefit from specialized training in business management and business growth – ranging from creating and preserving wealth, book keeping, personnel management, through business planning and strategy development, provided by a specialized team of consultants from our partners KPMG. We are confident that this program is a huge contribution to the SME sector in Uganda,” Mroué added.

Speaking at the event, KPMG Advisory Partner, Edgar Isingoma said, ‘Part of the criteria for the selection of SMEs for this program is that the SMEs must have been in operation for at least three years, with turnover ranging between UGX.200 million and UGX.5billion.’

“We set this benchmark during the planning stage of this project after a review of the SME segment in Uganda and across similar economies in Africa. We are confident that this benchmark is realistic for an economy the size of Uganda and are looking forward to contributing to the formalization of this sector as well as creating an enabling environment for the entrepreneurship culture to prosper. We are confident the business owners who qualify for this program will benefit from a wide range of specialized training from KPMG and business success testimonies from MTN,” Isingoma concluded.

The project involved training of  the successful SME applicants free of charge both on site (at their business premises) and off site at arranged sessions in different aspects relevant to business growth and development as informed by the training needs analysis of their businesses, and were conducted in phases.

Recently MTN Uganda launched a new state of art Data and Switching Centre at Mutundwe as well as its new MTN Business Unit. This further confirms MTN’s commitment to focus on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the Corporate/Business section of our customer base by ensuring that, through innovation, we are able to provide a wide range of customized products and services to satisfy their needs. 

Innocent [at] HiPipo.com

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