I&M invests extra Sh961 million in Uganda as stake drops to 79pc

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I&M Group East Africa region CEO Kihara Maina.

I&M Group last year invested an additional Ush821.26 million ($219,588) in the Uganda unit, pointing to the continued focus on complying with the revised minimum capital requirements.

The group says in the latest annual report that it made a direct additional investment of Ush538.89 million ($144,088) and a further Ush282.4 million ($75,508) through the conversion of preference shares in I&M Uganda into paid-up capital.

The additional investment made last year adds to the Ush995.84 million ($266,623) that the group put in the Uganda unit a year earlier, coming in the period the banking regulator made changes requiring banks to raise capital levels.

The Bank of Uganda, which is the regulator, last year issued the Financial Institutions (Revision of Minimum Capital Requirements) instrument 2022 requiring banks to have the minimum paid-up cash capital at Ush120 billion ($32.1 million) by December last year and Ush150 billion ($40.1 million), by the end of June next year.

The regulations also required banks to close last year with the minimum core capital—capital funds unimpaired by losses—at Ush4.4 billion ($1.18 million) and raise it to not less than Ush5.5 billion ($1.47 million), by the end of June next year.