Minister gives thumbs-up to NMG for Top 100 SMEs survey
NMG-U Managing Director Susan Nsibirwa interacts with some of the dignitaries during the Monitor Top100SMEs gala dinner at Hotel Africana in Kampala on November 29, 2024. PHOTO/STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- The Tourism ministry says since it joined the survey two years ago, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of local companies participating in the survey.
The tourism minister has said despite President Museveni always referring to the Daily Monitor, a subsidiary of the Nation Media Group Uganda, as the “bad newspaper,” he is going to brief him about the newspaper’s annual Top 100 Mid-Sized Company Survey which is shaping and impacting the economy.
While officiating at 2024 Top 100 Mid-Sized Company gala dinner last Friday at Hotel Africana, Mr Martin Mugarra Bahinduka, the state minister for Tourism, said the newspaper was doing something very useful for the country.
“When I meet him, I will tell him that this evening, I have met the Nation Media Group, and specifically he speaks to the Monitor Publications, doing something very useful for this country. I will pass on the message,” he said.
He explained that for the Daily Monitor and the partners in the annual top 100 Mid-sized companies to consistently carry out surveys for the last 16 years, convince Ugandan companies to share their audited books of accounts, their tax remittances and their revenue collections, they had done something commendable and not typical of Ugandan culture.
Mr Bahinduka added that since his ministry started participating in the survey two years ago, there had been a remarkable increase in the number of local companies participating in the survey and other government institutions such as Uganda Development Bank.
Unlike the previous gala awards dinner where less than three companies would qualify to join the prestigious Club 101—of the companies whose annual turnover surpasses Shs25b, this year, five of them graduated into the large enterprises category. They include Palin Construction Company, NASECO, Copy Cat Uganda, Motor Centre EA Ltd and Asa Microfinance.
In his speech read by board member Mr Robby Muhumuza, Prof Samuel Sejjaaka, the MPL board chairperson, thanked KPMG and partners, and the management of Nation Media Group Uganda for ensuring the survey’s credibility and trustworthiness year after year.
“When this journey began 16 years ago, we could hardly imagine the impact it would have over the next 16 years. Today, it stands out as the most trusted Mid-sized companies’ survey in Uganda and indeed the whole of the Eastern African Region. I want to thank the teams at Nation Media Group and KPMG for their dedication and hard work in making this possible,” Prof Sejjaaka said.
“To the Top 100 Mid-sized companies being recognised tonight, congratulations! You are proof of what dedication, resilience, innovation and hard work can achieve. Your success inspires others and drives our nation’s economic growth and development.
“We also celebrate the Club 101 inductees - businesses that have surpassed the Top 100 mid-sized companies’ threshold with a turnover above Shs25 billion per year. This incredible milestone highlights the potential for tremendous growth for every Small and Medium sized Enterprise,” he added.
While releasing the survey findings during a conference for the participants last Thursday, Mr Benson Mwesigwa, the associate director for KPMG Uganda, said some of the new findings from the survey, indicated that more than 70 percent of the participating companies are fully owned by Ugandans, and they expressed optimism of a bright future.
Gift Soko, the executive director Equity Bank Uganda, said beyond financing and investing in skills and knowledge, through their enterprise development and innovation programmes, they are going to provide the SMEs with access to training and resources that help them navigate market dynamics.
“We know that market access is critical for growth. That is why we provided for the facilitation of access to markets, through accelerating linkages of SMEs to former value chains, increased regional and international linkages, and finance trade and logistics to be able to serve the sector,” he said.
Mr Arthur Mukembo, the chief executive officer innovation and technology at Future Labs, an offshoot of the Innovations Village, said they are supporting the fastest growing SMEs.
He added that they would like to support SMEs accelerate their growth by harnessing the power of technology.
Pearl on the Nile, a new Hotel in Jinja City, scooped this year’s award.
Our partners/sponsors
1. Equity Bank.
2. Huawei Technologies.
3. Uganda Securities Exchange.
4. The Titan Programme by Innovation Village
5. The Ministry of Tourism
6. KPMG
7. Nation Media Group
