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About

About This Uganda Forex Guide

This guide is published by an independent editorial team and paid for by display advertising and by partner links to a broker.

Updated Oct 2026 · how we rate brokers

What Shilling Desk is, and the lines it does not cross.What Shilling Desk is, and the lines it does not cross.01IndependentNot a broker, not a regulator, not affiliated with either.02CheckableEvery claim points at a public record.03Paid for openlyPartner links, disclosed on every page that uses one.04CorrectableWrite in and a wrong page is fixed and dated.
What Shilling Desk is, and the lines it does not cross.

An independent editorial team publishes this guide

This guide is written and edited by a small independent editorial team based in Uganda. The team's job is to explain how foreign exchange works for Ugandan readers, in plain English, without hype.

Nobody on the editorial side sells trading accounts, signals or courses. The guide exists to answer questions, not to move readers towards a particular product.

Every page is reviewed before it goes live. If a claim cannot be checked against a public source, it does not go on the page.

Sources, and how often they move
FigureSourceChecked
Licensee names and statusCMA Uganda licensed persons list — cmauganda.co.ug2026-06-26
Session windowsFixed UTC windows; London and New York shift in their DSTOn change
USD/UGXopen.er-api.com2026-09-28
Funding limits and feesSet by the provider and the broker — not published hereChanges without notice

No source, no date, no entry: figures we could not follow back are missing on purpose.

Advertising pays for the site, not brokers

The site is funded by display advertising and by affiliate links to brokers and other service providers. If you open an account through one of those links, the site may receive a payment.

That funding model does not buy coverage. A broker cannot pay for a better review, a higher placing in a table, or a mention in a guide like this one.

Where a page compares firms, the comparison is built from public information such as the CMA Uganda licensed persons list at cmauganda.co.ug and the broker's own published documents. You should still check the broker's funding page and the Mobile Money app for current terms before you send money.

How deposits and withdrawals travel

MTN MoMo
Mobile wallet — limits set by the wallet provider and the broker
Airtel Money
Mobile wallet — limits set by the wallet provider and the broker
Bank transfer
Limits set by your bank and the broker
Card
Card payment — limits set by your card issuer and the broker

Limits and fees are set by the provider and the broker and change without notice, so they are not printed here. Check the figure in your provider's app and again on the broker's funding page, and take the money out the way you put it in.

Corrections are welcome and are made in public

If you find an error, write to the editorial address on the contact page and say which sentence is wrong and what the correct position is. A link to a public source helps.

Corrections that stand up are made to the page itself, and the page is dated when it changes. We do not quietly delete a wrong sentence and pretend it was never there.

Broker-specific complaints are not handled here. If you have a dispute with a firm, the CMA Uganda website explains how to raise it with the regulator.

The register, in brief
FieldWhat it says
RegulatorCapital Markets Authority of Uganda (CMA Uganda)
RegisterCMA Uganda licensed persons list
Published atcmauganda.co.ug
Covers retail forexNo category for an online leveraged FX broker
Last read by us2026-06-26
Entries transcribed here92

A register says whether a firm holds a licence on the day you look, and nothing about how it treats clients. The name worth searching is the legal entity in the footer, not the brand above it.

What this guide can and cannot tell you about licensing

Uganda's regulator is the Capital Markets Authority of Uganda, usually shortened to CMA Uganda. Its public register of licensed and approved persons is at cmauganda.co.ug.

That register covers unit trust managers, fund managers, investment advisers, stock brokers, custodians, dealers and trustees. An online or leveraged foreign-exchange broker is not one of those categories.

So a firm offering that service to Ugandan residents is working under a licence issued somewhere else. This guide does not claim any broker is licensed, safe or best. Check the register yourself, and read the firm's own licence details, before you rely on them.

What a broker asks for before a withdrawal

National ID card or passport
Who you are
Selfie with the ID document
That the document is in your hands

Brokers usually also ask for proof of address; requirements differ per firm. Every firm sets its own list, and prints it where the account is opened.

How we write about sessions, payments and risk

Uganda runs on East Africa Time, UTC+3. Session hours on this site are given in that local time, so you can compare them with your own day.

Mobile Money is the main payment rail in Uganda. MTN MoMo, Airtel Money, bank transfer and card also appear. Fees, limits and processing times change, so check the app or the broker's funding page rather than trusting an old figure.

Leveraged foreign exchange can lose money quickly, and nothing on this site is a promise of profit or a personal recommendation. Treat every figure you see as something to verify at the source.

A trading day on an EAT clock

Busiest window
15:00-20:00 EAT — London and New York open together
Thinnest stretch
00:00-09:00 EAT — Sydney alone, wider spreads
European open
11:00-20:00 EAT
US open
15:00-00:00 EAT
Closed
Friday New York close until the Sydney open on Monday

London remains on GMT until 28 March and New York on EDT until 1 November, and the hours are shown for the clocks in force today. Uganda does not change clocks, so each move shifts these local times by an hour and the page is rebuilt on the day it happens.

The order of checks before you send money anywhere

Start with the regulator, not the broker. CMA Uganda publishes a licensed persons list at cmauganda.co.ug. If a firm is absent from that list, treat any claim about Ugandan regulation as unverified, whatever the website says.

Then check the payment route. Mobile Money is the main rail in Uganda. Confirm the receiving name on the MTN MoMo or Airtel Money prompt matches the firm you intend to pay. A mismatch is a stop signal, not a delay to push through.

Finally, read the broker's own funding page for its terms. This guide does not publish deposit or withdrawal details because those change. The broker's page and your Mobile Money app are the places where the current position is stated.

What you will actually be clicking in
PlatformWhat it isWho makes it
MetaTrader 4The older standard; expert advisors and a large script ecosystemMetaQuotes
MetaTrader 5The newer build; more order types and timeframesMetaQuotes
cTraderDepth of market and a different order modelSpotware
The broker's own appUsually simpler, and tied to that one firmThe broker

A platform is software, not a safeguard: the same terminal is offered by licensed and unlicensed firms alike. Licensing lives on the register. Ratings and downloads are not evidence of it.

Mobile Money introduces a step that card users never see

With a card, a payment is usually one action. With Mobile Money, you approve a prompt on your handset. That extra step is where mistakes happen: the prompt names the recipient, and readers often approve without reading it.

A second failure mode is the reference. If a transfer carries no reference, or the wrong one, matching it to your account can take longer. Keep the confirmation message the app sends you. It is the record you will be asked for.

Timing also differs. Mobile Money runs on EAT, UTC+3, and settles through telecom systems, not card networks. A transfer may not appear instantly. Check the broker's funding page for how it credits Mobile Money before assuming something has gone wrong.

UGX conversion, and what it is good for
FigureValueSource
Indicative USD/UGX4 029.72open.er-api.com, pulled 2026-09-28
How often it movesEvery trading day—
The rate your account usesYour broker's own conversionThe broker's rate card
Symbol on this siteUSh—

An indicative rate is for sizing a position in your head, not for settling one. What your broker converts at, against this rate, is a cost like any spread.

What a licence does not cover, and what it does

A licence from CMA Uganda covers the firm's activities in Uganda. It is not a statement that trading is suitable for you, and it does not remove the risk of loss. Those are separate questions, and the regulator's list answers only the first.

Readers often treat licensing as a safety mark that transfers to every product a firm offers. It does not. A firm may hold one permission and offer other services outside it. Read the entry on the CMA Uganda list rather than the broker's badge.

This guide will not name a firm as licensed, safe or best. That judgement belongs to you, made against the public list at cmauganda.co.ug. Where a claim cannot be checked there, say so plainly and move on.

Four claims worth one minute of checking
What you seeWhat to check
A fixed monthly return, promised in advanceAsk which licence permits it, then look the firm up on the CMA Uganda licensed persons list.
A deposit asked for in gift cards or vouchersCheck the broker's own funding page: firms list bank, card and wallet rails, not vouchers.
Someone offering to trade the account for youManaging money for a client is a separate permission. The register says whether a firm holds it.
A withdrawal released only after a new paymentRead the withdrawal terms you agreed to. They do not contain any fee that is invented when a payout is made.

None of this is a judgement about any firm. Each line is a check you can run yourself, starting at cmauganda.co.ug.

How a correction actually reaches the page

A correction starts with a specific claim. Send the sentence you believe is wrong, the page it sits on, and the public source that contradicts it. A regulator's list or an official page is enough. A general objection is not something that can be checked.

Once received, the claim is checked against that source. If it does not hold, the text changes and the change is noted on the page. If it does hold, the page stays as it is. Either way, the reader who raised it gets an answer.

This matters because the guide covers a moving subject. Regulator lists change, payment rails change, and website wording changes. A page that cannot be corrected quietly becomes wrong. The correction route is the mechanism that keeps it usable.

Who writes this guide?

A small independent editorial team based in Uganda writes and reviews every page. The team does not sell trading accounts, signals or courses, and no broker has editorial control over what appears here.

How is the site funded?

Display advertising and affiliate links pay for the site. If you open a broker account through a link, the site may receive a payment. That does not buy a better review, a higher placing or a mention, and comparisons are built from public sources such as the CMA Uganda register.

How do I report a mistake?

Use the contact page and say which sentence is wrong and what the correct position is, with a public source if you have one. Corrections that stand up are made to the page, and the page is dated when it changes.

Does this guide say which brokers are licensed in Uganda?

No. The CMA Uganda register of licensed and approved persons covers unit trust managers, fund managers, investment advisers, stock brokers, custodians, dealers and trustees, and an online or leveraged foreign-exchange broker is not one of those categories. A firm offering that service to Ugandan residents is working under a licence issued somewhere else, so check cmauganda.co.ug and the firm's own licence details yourself.

Leverage cuts both ways: losses on forex and CFDs can exceed what you deposited. Most retail traders lose. None of this is financial advice.

New to this?

Five minutes on how money moves in Uganda will save you a long evening of guessing.

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