Business 25 March 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Global Private Markets Expand While Uganda Grapples with Foundational Hurdles
Major global asset managers are broadening access to private markets amid slowing exits and rising risks, but Uganda's nascent ecosystem struggles with currency volatility, mismatched funding, and limited exit options. Experts warn that scaling without addressing these basics could import global vulnerabilities into fragile local markets. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/business/markets/private-markets-go-mainstream-as-uganda-still-builds-the-basics--5403318
Global giants like BlackRock, Apollo, Blackstone, KKR, and Carlyle are adapting private market products to attract wealth managers, retirement funds, and everyday investors. Private credit has ballooned to $1.7 trillion worldwide, yet the sector faces headwinds from sluggish IPOs, reduced deal activity, and higher interest rates boosting bonds.
In Africa, private equity exits lagged far behind investments, with only 51 exits against 427 deals in early 2023, per the Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. This bottleneck limits fresh capital deployment. Risks have materialized, as seen in Kenya’s 2016 Britania Foods case, where an investment soured due to inflated valuations and eventual collapse.
Uganda’s private markets remain in early development, according to a September 2025 Financial Sector Deepening Uganda and East Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association study. Capital flows toward growth-stage firms, sidelining early-stage businesses, while 72% of funding from development partners imposes mismatched conditions.
Currency mismatches—dollar investments against shilling revenues—expose firms to exchange risks. Weak data and due diligence complicate pricing, but exits pose the greatest barrier: shallow public markets, scarce buyers, and rare secondary sales prolong holding periods.
Local institutions favor high-yield government securities at 17%, keeping private markets reliant on foreign funds and short on local deal experts. As global private markets democratize under strain, Uganda must solidify basics like stable currency, reliable data, and exit routes to avoid magnifying emerging weaknesses.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)