As we are harping on from news story to news story like that game of jumping boxes with one foot and landing on two feet (pavements were the in thing where they could be found), this “juicy” morsel of informed gossip landed at my feet the other day. It appears that a major financial institution, Nakasero based Citibank, will soon open a branch in guess where; Hoima. This could be well a non-story since Banks have been branching out to the rural countryside like the many tributaries of the Nile. However it is not. Citibank has had one branch for its exclusively corporate clients ever since it was established here. It does have a “branch” office I believe at the US Mission in Uganda in Nsambya.
So why is it heading out to Hoima and not say to Gulu? One reason may be to service closely the oil companies as the industry fans out. What may be more interesting are the sources of information and analysis available to this bank. As a global player, one of the largest in fact, Citibank, has access to world-class analysis.
If only I could use its resources to gauge the viability of Uganda’s oil sector? Well I should content myself with their overt endorsement in opening only their second branch in over a decade and half in what will no doubt be Uganda’s oil city; Hoima.
Now you know as well. Kyaba too serious
