Saturday, January 3, 2009

Yello! Are you hiring?

It's good to know that our ambassadors in the Diaspora are not only representing the pearl in a noble and commendable manner they are also significantly contributing to the growth of our infant economy through investments that are as beneficial as they are colossal.

Skimming through the papers today one particular story caught my eye, it was an article on the contributions the 'Kyeyos' make to sectors such as housing , education and health, the remittances the Cheri's and Emi's of this world make amount to a staggering 1 billion dollars annually.

This money is distributed down the food chain to the rest of us labourers through wages for various jobs that range from porters on a construction site to janitors in clinics and of course there are other specialised services like consultancies that provide professional advice on investments and capital finance as well as real estate and property.

So if I were the minister of state for trade and investment I would advise Ugandans living abroad not to invest their hard earned money in MTN shares as some have promised to do should that greedy multi nantional ever decide it needs to fill its already bursting belly.

I advise that they follow the trend and provide the much needed jobs for ordinary Ugandans by investing in housing or education, this way my cousin Bamujje who earns a pittance from growing tobacco in Mubende just might make the trip to Kampala for a better paying job.

But i think I see their point. It's easy to buy stocks and sit back and relax knowing you can sell any second you sense a profit, I know i would do the same after all who needs the cumbersome tasks of buying land to put up Muzigos for tenants who are only going to become a constant headache and there is also the risk of getting ripped of by a brother or uncle, I mean who can u trust with money these days. Of the 1bn I mentioned above about a quarter of that could have been lost in shoddy deals, ghost projects and outright theft.

So i guess its okay to make the Charles Mbiires, Noel Meirs and van Veens richer after all there's something in it for you, isn't there?

11 comments:

  1. In the end we all strive to get rich. To get rich you gotta kick emotion out of the way. True we'd want to put the money where it's better needed but, hey, if Y'ello shares will get me rich, what the hell am I waiting for? The labourers who expect me to give 'em cash without returns for me can go do what's translated into layman's terms as "procreating with themselves" [And that's not a flattering term]

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  2. Naye nga my landlord has made money out of our rent. When I came in, he wasnt driving and he hadnt finished some of the houses. Now he is driving and has not only finished the houses he was putting up. He has put up six more houses in addition to the six he had.

    He has now increased my rent to 200K from 150K. So I am moving house end of this month. I will miss it because I had my own water and electricity meter and the bills never went beyond 15K a month.

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  3. lol at MUdsmuli.
    mine has increaed to 450 and am moving this weekend.

    @Carsozy, didnt know there was an economic person behind the lounger i know.

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  4. Jny23: i know the markets, so when u in state house don't leave me off the cabinet.

    Mudamuli: that's the beauty of real estate.

    Erique: The markets are fun before they start to plummet Gudmundsson is now worth 0$ while Anil Ambani lost 30bn$ in the crunch. funny thing is Gudmundsson still has his westham which he can sell so for me it's real estate any day so my Labourers won't have to F.. I mean procreate with themselves. But u sound clever enough to play the game so go with your gut.

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  5. Car: I have the brains to match up the 'u sound clever' thing ;) Now don't even bring up Ambani. I hate that guy for reasons way beyond economics. No wonder he lost that much. The fact thst I'm on his side here really sucks.

    Big business ventures come with great risk. I believe you know that. The cruch was just one of those once-in-a-veeery-long-time plunges that come with the risk. You're just unlucky if it happens in your time. Otherwise I still believe shares generate big. Stanbic & Vision have made me a major coinaire and note-aire.

    However, I wont dispute the fact that real estate is still one of the greatest investments one could ever make. So good luck man.

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  6. Erique: Thanks, and for what it's worth the lure of the big kill in Capital markets is just as irresistable to me as it is to u, i just like to play it safe.

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  7. its okay lets go play the loterry

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  8. U sound mad........u reap where u sow isn't that wat they say.

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  9. Carsozy, Interesting take...I'll still be doing the Yellow shares tho..to add to what Erique has said, Investing in the other sectors (education, real estate) can only work out if you have proper connections in the government...Even the nkuba-kyeyo's don't trust their own relatives to start building for them houses(obvious reasons)

    I've not yet placed a single shs in that 1 billion yet but when my shares grow and I win the New York Jackpot of $170m. Education would be a worthy investment such that mostly the Villa guys can catch up with the technology age.....I have thought about this bit and working on it jackpot or not.

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  10. Emi's: $170m? if and when i'll be your best friend(self appointed). nice to know there is the philanthropist in you, we need you back home.

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  11. second post i have read this week hating on mtn. whats up guys? me i want mbire to sing more songs for his mum. so u guys go ahead and invest in mtn. we shall not have haters ruining it for us!

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