I read with a mixture of horror and sympathy for the victims of the latest Ponzi scheme gone bad in town. Last week a company, Global Cryptocurrencies Ltd, collapsed and along with it went billions of shillings, by police estimates, of their clients’ money. The company working out of an obscure office on Namirembe road, managed to rope in all manner of clients with the promise of magical returns – 40% a week! I have been in business for most of my life, if I could be guaranteed 40% week I would sell everything I own and jump in with both feet. Or maybe not. And this is why. They say if anything is too good to be true, it is. If you can get an annual return of 40% on your investment you will be doing extremely well. So if you put in a million shillings in your business and walk away at the end of the year with sh400,000 after taxes you have found a good thing, and I would like to be your friend. I have seen my share of scam artists and con men. Below are my fast an
In recent weeks the issues of financing for business has been in the news, in one form or the other. We have seen the challenge a past minister is facing with having to hang onto his home. The case is in court, so we can’t discuss its merits and demerits, just to say he may have fallen prey to some predatory practices, with the lender skirting dangerously on the edge of the law. Across the border in Kenya a cap on bank lending rates has been repealed. Three years ago Kenya’s parliament passed a law restricting lending rates to two percentage points above the rate at which the central bank lent money. In reaction banks pulled back their lending to businesses, depressing the economy and prompting the reversal. So now banks can “properly” price their loans, often to the discomfort of small and medium sized businesses. The two incidents are related and speak to the availability and cost of credit. In my business career I have benefitted immensely from credit. It is next