On May 29, 2026, some of Uganda’s sharpest financial minds including treasury dealers, financial market practitioners, regulators, and key stakeholders from across Uganda’s banking sector, gathered at Arirang Hotel in Kampala.
The occasion was the ACI Financial Markets Association (FMA) Uganda Dealers’ Meeting – a gathering that may not have made the evening news, but whose significance for the country’s economic future is difficult to overstate.
The professionals in that room are treasury dealers: the men and women who sit behind trading screens in the back offices of Uganda’s 25 commercial banks, moving money, managing risk, and quietly keeping the financial system from seizing up.
They are not household names. But every Shilling or Dollar borrowed by the government to build a road, every dollar locked in for a business importing machinery, and every interest rate signal sent by the Bank of Uganda, travels through their hands before it reaches the broader economy.
ACI Uganda does not operate in isolation; it is actually the technical arm of the Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) in all matters related to financial markets.
NCBA Bank Uganda, through its Global Markets Division, was among the institutions represented at the meeting. Francis Kiyemba, the bank’s Head of Global Markets, moderated the discussions and could not put the stakes more plainly.
“As market participants, our role goes beyond trading; we are stewards of trust, liquidity, and stability in the financial system,” he said.
“Platforms such as the ACI Uganda Dealers’ Meeting are critical in aligning stakeholders, strengthening professional standards, and driving sustainable market growth.”
A cross section of the participants at the meeting
That is not a ceremonial statement. It is an accurate description of what is at risk when this profession is underdeveloped.
Uganda is at a moment where it is actively courting foreign direct investment (FDI) to fund its Tenfold Growth Strategy. But international capital does not flow into markets it cannot read.
Investors need to know that exchange rates are transparently priced, that government securities can be bought and sold efficiently, and that the banks managing their transactions are staffed by professionals operating to global standards.
ACI Uganda, affiliated with the global ACI Financial Markets Association and endorsed by the Bank of Uganda, exists precisely to guarantee those standards.
Its flagship credential – the ACI Dealing Certificate – ensures that a dealer in Kampala carries the same technical competence and ethical grounding as one in London, New York or Singapore.
The meeting heard presentations from George Ochom, a retired banker, and Samuel Odeke, Chairman of Access Financial Services, on evolving market dynamics and the adoption of global best practices.
The conversations were timely. Uganda’s financial markets remain relatively shallow, and the gap between their current depth and what a growing economy requires costs the country in investor confidence every year it persists.
For that reason, the Bank of Uganda and the Capital Markets Authority must move beyond passive endorsement and actively resource the deepening of these markets – through sound and robust policy frameworks, institutional support for professional certification, and structured collaboration with bodies like ACI Uganda and the Uganda Bankers’ Association.
A country that invests in the technical excellence of its treasury professionals signals seriousness to the world. Uganda has the ambition. It now needs the institutional follow-through to match it.
