Summary:

• Umeme, the Ugandan electricity company, has identified numerous Kenyan investors who failed to collect millions of shillings in dividends, urging them to update their payment records, as the absence of a centralized agency in Uganda requires companies to individually trace and notify owners of unclaimed dividends.

A notice from Ugandan electricity company Umeme has identified numerous Kenyan investors who have not claimed their dividends, amounting to millions of shillings. Umeme, listed on both the Nairobi and Uganda securities exchanges, has distributed a total of Ksh14.62 billion (Ush359.8 billion – $95.4 million) in dividends since 2018, establishing itself as one of the leading dividend-paying companies in regional exchanges.

The company has named 585 shareholders with outstanding dividend collections, but the specific amount of these uncollected payouts remains undisclosed. Umeme urges the shareholders or their designated beneficiaries to update their payment records by contacting the Share Registrar, Custody & Registrar Services (Uganda) Limited.

Kenyan individual and institutional investors have been increasingly drawn to opportunities in the Uganda market, seeking returns from firms like Umeme and listed telecommunications companies with consistent dividend policies.

Umeme, cross-listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange since December 2012, initially broke the trend of only Kenyan firms cross-listing in other East African markets. The absence of a centralized agency in Uganda for unclaimed financial assets, such as dividends, means that respective companies must track down and notify owners, who then need to file claims with the share registrars of these firms.

Unlike Kenya, Uganda lacks a central agency for unclaimed financial assets, and although its government is considering establishing an unclaimed assets authority, dividends currently have no provision for deposit with the Bank of Uganda, as is the case with unclaimed balances held by banks.

In Kenya, the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority has received remittances totaling Ksh53.4 billion from institutions, benefiting 27,107 claimants with Ksh1.93 billion. Unclaimed dividends and shares often result from owners failing to provide next of kin or beneficiary details during the initial purchase, while incorrect mailing addresses contribute to the accumulation of unclaimed dividends. A 2018 survey estimated that Ksh241 billion in unclaimed financial assets remained unreported to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority by public agencies and private firms, with around 477,112 entities holding these assets.