Under the theme “From Regulation to Growth: Uganda as a Regional Hub for Virtual Assets,” the Kampala Blockchain Summit 2025 brought together regulators, industry stakeholders, and innovators in a concerted effort to shape Uganda’s future in digital finance and blockchain technology.
Hosted by the Blockchain Association of Uganda (BAU), the summit unfolded on November 25 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Kampala.
The summit’s keynote address was delivered by Dr. Michael Atingi-Ego, Governor of the Bank of Uganda (BoU), who described the current moment as “pivotal” for Uganda’s digital-finance future. He urged a regulatory approach rooted in prudence — not prohibition — emphasising the need to protect citizens while enabling innovation.
In his remarks, Atingi-Ego clarified that virtual assets are not legal tender, and participation in the market carries inherent risk. The BoU’s previous caution, he explained, was “prudence, not hesitation.”
As part of his vision, the Governor proposed a robust regulatory architecture built on six foundational pillars: licensing and fit-and-proper standards; client-asset protection; AML/CFT compliance (including compliance with the Financial Action Task Force Travel Rule); cybersecurity and operational resilience; market integrity and conduct; and transparency and data reporting.
He urged stakeholders to adopt a collaborative and phased approach. Regulators are encouraged to build supervisory capacity, industry players to engage transparently, and consumers to invest cautiously — avoiding promises of guaranteed returns.
Beyond regulation, the Summit featured a full programme of panels and presentations. Speakers included local and international experts such as Sylvia Mulinge, CEO of MTN Uganda; representatives from banks, mobile-money providers, and fintech startups; as well as global analysts from the CFA Institute.
One session, “An Investment Perspective on Tokenization,” offered participants insights into how digital assets could transform investment and asset-management practices across Africa. A panel on “Tokenization: A Blockchain Use Case” explored real-world applications — from financial inclusion and remittances to asset tokenization and cross-border payments.
Meanwhile, a regulators’ roundtable brought together major oversight bodies — including BoU, the Capital Markets Authority, the Financial Intelligence Authority, and the Uganda Revenue Authority — underscoring a coordinated, multi-agency response to the evolving virtual-asset landscape.
A recurring question throughout the Summit was how Uganda would position itself against regional peers — notably neighbouring Kenya, which recently began licensing virtual-asset service providers under a new regulatory framework.
Atingi-Ego challenged stakeholders not to settle for “second-tier” status, but to aim for leadership: through high-quality legislation, world-class supervisory capacity, infrastructure investment, and talent development. “Uganda does not need to follow,” he said. “Uganda is ready to lead — but only if we move with urgency and quality simultaneously.”
By the end of the Summit, many participants left with a sense that Uganda stands at a crossroads. The decisions made now — around regulation, oversight, and industry collaboration — are likely to shape the country’s digital-finance and blockchain ecosystem for years to come.
For proponents, blockchain and virtual-asset technologies represent more than speculative crypto trading: they could enable financial inclusion, improve remittance channels, facilitate asset tokenization, and support fintech innovation across sectors ranging from agriculture to logistics.
As Uganda moves toward formalizing the regulatory framework laid out during the Summit, industry stakeholders and observers are watching closely. The hope is that with clarity, coordination, and capacity building, Uganda can emerge not only as a user of global blockchain systems — but as a regional hub shaping them.
