Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has applauded the introduction of the Bsystems Collateral Registry System now known as the Security Interest in Movable Property Registry System (SIMPO) in the country.

According to him, the use of the online registry platform in the country will enable Ugandans to use their moveable assets as collateral to borrow money for their businesses from financial institutions.

He was speaking during the official launch of the registry software platform alongside the country’s National Intellectual Property Policy by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) at the State House Entebbe.

President Museveni noted that the smooth implementation of the registry system and the IP Policy will go a long way to boost the ease of doing business and stimulate innovation and creativity in Uganda.

“To most lenders, collateral means having land or a building. But if I have a thousand heads of cattle, each valued at sh1m, why would you refuse to finance my investment?

"The Finance Ministry should wake up the banking sector. For entrepreneurship, agriculture, and industrialisation to thrive in Uganda, the government will continue to address the issue of high lending rates amongst financial providers,” he said.

The Registrar General of Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), Twebaze Bemanya in his remarks also disclosed that following its activation in September 2019, the Security Interest in Movable Property Registry System (SIMPO) has already recorded over 4,000 registrations, with the most common use assets to secure loans being motor vehicles and motorcycles.

He added that these account for most of the property owned and pledged by borrowers including micro, small and medium enterprises.

Uganda’s new Security Interest in Movable Property Registry System (SIMPO) which was designed and developed by leading Ghanaian software solution company, Bsystems Limited will not only provide information on encumbrances of movable property of borrowers but to also assist creditors to easily have access to a database online to register their interest in movable collateral pledged for the loan.

Following the passing of the Security Interest in Movable Property Act of 2019 by the country’s legislative body, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) and the Bank of Uganda together with other financial entities worked together to establish the SIMPRS to provide world-wide access for users to register an interest in movable property, enforcement of security interests, a search of the register and other related matters.

Currently, Bsystems Collateral Registry System which allows customers to search the system’s database to ascertain whether the same collateral has not been used to cover another borrowing has been implemented in eight African countries including Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Ethiopia with an ongoing implementation in Mozambique to make it nine.