Lira and Mbarara Cities have embraced officials of MTN along with their senior broker representatives during town hall visits aimed at promoting awareness of the MTN Initial Public offering (IPO) with the goal of encouraging participation of Ugandans in its IPO.
The cities which are part of a series of a countrywide awareness tour hosted by officials from MTN, licensed stockbrokers were also graced by religious leaders, prominent business men and political leaders among others.
Reverend Martin Odong, founder of Pentecostal Fellowship Ministries who was one of the attendees at the town hall in Lira appreciated MTN for opening the company up to Ugandans at the grassroots saying it gives him tremendous joy to have the opportunity to become a shareholder.
“I will begin to put in practise what I have learnt from here. Right away, I am going to open the SCD account and buy shares and invite friends, relatives, church members and invite them to also get to know what I learnt from here today and how they can benefit from it,” he said.
The Reverend benefitted from the presentation made by Enid Edroma, the MTN Uganda Corporate Services General Manager at the town hall held at Lira Hotel who said that the massive awareness campaign seeks to promote local participation of all Ugandans in the country’s leading telecommunications and mobile money operator IPO by equipping them with the necessary information required for them to partake in this opportunity and, in so doing, help democratize and bolster Uganda’s capital market.
“The MTN IPO is aimed at driving inclusion by giving as many Ugandans as possible, a chance to become part owners of the biggest company in the country and the most admired brand in Africa. We believe that the price of UGX100,000 for the minimum number of shares will see more people of all walks of life take part in this IPO moreover at their convenience, using the m-IPO platform on their mobile phones,’ Edroma said adding applications for shares using MTN MoMo is free of any extra charges.
The Lira town hall happened concurrently with the Mbarara town hall which was officiated by the Andrew Bugembe, the MTN Uganda Chief Financial Officer who also noted that to further drive more participation by Ugandans, the IPO has special incentives for Ugandans who apply: “All Ugandan individuals applying for MTN Shares through MTN MoMo (via USSD or MyMTN app) will receive an incentive of 10 bonus shares for every 100 shares applied for. Individuals applying for shares using other methods like Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) portal or paper applications will also get an incentive of 5 bonus shares for every 100 shares they apply. In case of over subscription of the MTN IPO, Ugandan individuals will be considered first.”
The MTN IPO is the first ever m-IPO in the region, allowing individual retail investors to apply for the shares through MTN MoMo. MTN customers can apply for shares at their convenience by dialing *165*65# on their phone, first to open their SCD accounts and then apply for the MTN shares. MTN customers with smartphones can also apply through the MyMTN app.
Persons interested in applying for MTN shares can get further assistance from MTN Service Centres, Stanbic Bank branches, and the licensed brokers including SBG Securities, Crested Capital, and Dyer & Blair. More information about the MTN IPO can be found in the prospectus that is available at www.mtn.co.ug/investors.
