The past five years have not gone particularly well for Uganda’s billionaire class. Once the undisputed symbols of local enterprise and ambition, several of the country’s most prominent businessmen have found themselves entangled in complex financial and legal battles — most of them involving commercial banks and cross-border lenders. Among them, Hamis Kiggundu, the property and retail magnate behind Ham Enterprises, waged one of Uganda’s most closely watched banking disputes. His companies owed USD 4,014,444 to Diamond Trust Bank Uganda and USD 6,974,600 to Diamond Trust Bank Kenya — a combined USD 10.99 million (approximately UGX 40 billion) in credit…
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The Supreme Court has handed businessman Patrick Bitature a much-needed pause in his long and bruising legal fight with South African investment firm Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership. In a ruling delivered on October 2, 2025, Justice Elizabeth Musoke temporarily stopped Vantage from moving to seize Bitature’s assets over a disputed USD 10 million loan. This decision does not end the case. Instead, it buys time for one of Uganda’s most prominent businessmen, allowing him to fight on as the highest court prepares to hear the bigger arguments. How the dispute began In 2014, one of Bitature’s companies, Simba Properties…
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Uganda’s millionaire class is quietly expanding. The country added 100 new dollar millionaires in the 12 months leading up to June 2025. The addition brings the total number of individuals with over $1 million in investable assets to 1,600, according to the Africa Wealth Report 2025 by Henley & Partners. This marks a steady growth from 1,500 in 2022 and a significant jump from 940 in 2021, when the country saw its sharpest increase in wealth despite grappling with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Uganda’s dollar millionaire population grew by 45% in 2022 alone, adding 560 individuals in a…
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Uganda’s Court of Appeal has today handed down a string of rulings that deepened the legal troubles of businessman Patrick Bitature and his Simba Group, while significantly strengthening the hand…
The Court of Appeal has handed South African lender Vantage Mezzanine Fund II a decisive legal victory in its high-profile dispute with Ugandan businessman Patrick Bitature and his Simba Group…
Nearly two decades after the Government of Uganda privatised Kinyara Sugar Works Ltd — now Kinyara Sugar Ltd — hundreds of sugarcane out-growers in Masindi are still chasing a promise: a 10% stake in the company they helped rebuild with their sweat, land, and loyalty. Instead of share certificates, dividends, or boardroom access, they were handed silence — while their stake was quietly sold off to politically connected entities under opaque circumstances. Today, that missing stake — amounting to 3,827,113 ordinary shares, now valued at over UGX 34.4 billion(approximately USD 9 million) — is the subject of a landmark legal…
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East Africa is the fastest-growing economic region on the continent. In 2022, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania attracted over USD13.3 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI). This is according to the latest investment report by the business advisory firm Ernst & Young. The report singled out Uganda as having received USD10.2 billion — the highest in East Africa — creating 6,300 jobs. However, a refusal by a Ugandan Commercial Court to respect and enforce a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) ruling has turned on the stage lights onto Uganda’s investment climate and may position the country in a bad…
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Patrick Bitature In the world of entrepreneurship, success is often romanticized as an overnight phenomenon—a brilliant idea that transforms into a million-dollar venture with just a single stroke of genius. However, the reality is far from this illusion. True success in the entrepreneurial realm is a product of unwavering focus and determination sustained over time. It is the relentless pursuit of one’s goals, day in and day out, that sets the foundation for triumph. This is why GRIT and discipline are of paramount importance to any aspiring entrepreneur. GRIT, a term popularized by psychologist Angela Duckworth, is defined as the…
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Simba Group Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Patrick Bitature has been named Entrepreneur of the Year at the just-ended African Tourism Leadership Forum, held in Gaborone, Botswana. The multi-sectoral entrepreneur was recognised for “showing tremendous entrepreneurship impact in Africa’s hospitality industry”, according to a statement released by the Group. The Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF) is a Pan-African dialogue platform that brings together key stakeholders of Africa’s travel, tourism, hospitality, and aviation sectors to network, share insights, and devise strategies for intra-Africa travel and tourism growth across the continent, whilst enhancing the brand equity of “Destination Africa’’. The…
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Umeme Limited has released its unaudited interim condensed financial results for the six months’ period ended June 2022. In the financial statement signed by the company Chairman and MD, Patrick Bitature and Selestino Babungi respectively, despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, the electricity sector was resilient and posted a 9% increase in energy demand, due to the opening of the economy since January 2022. “The economy was on course for a strong rebound at the start of the year, helped by higher domestic demand amidst the easing of pandemic-curbing restrictions,” they said. “However, the challenging global environment in the wake of…
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