M.Comm. / For twenty years Uganda suffered the disastrous consequences of a system of rule in which there were no limits to the exercise of power. During this period the country went through no less than seven different regimes, all of which ignored the rule of law and left people without a sense of personal security or power. Many Ugandans were forced into exile and those staying on withdrew from politics, leaving politicians to conduct their business without any accountability. The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Government, led by President Y oweri Museveni, came to power in early 1986. This brought an end to the political instability and economic decline, which had plagued the country hitherto. Under his leadership, the nation embarked on an ambitious economic recovery program, supported by the IMF, the World Bank, and other donors. The key elements of this successful program have been the restoration of fiscal and monetary discipline; the improvement of the incentive structure and investment climate for exports and other production activities; the rehabilitation of the country's social, economic and institutional infrastructure; and the promotion of increased savings and investment. The economic reforms implemented by the present government in Uganda since 1986, coupled with political stability, have contributed to economic growth rates averaging 6% per annum in the last decade. This has made Uganda one of the fastest growing countries in Africa. Inflation is under control and has been maintained below 10% per annum for the last four years. Most economic activities are fully liberalized and open to foreign investment. There are no restrictions to 100% foreign ownership of investments and no barriers to remittance of dividends. Uganda's shilling is fully convertible and has remained stable over the last years. The foreign exchange market is now wholly liberalized following a move by government, effective July 1997 to liberalize capital account transactions. Uganda is now one of about only five countries in the whole of Africa that have no restrictions on capital amount transfers. Within Africa and the emerging markets, Uganda enjoys a high status with donors and lenders. For the future, it is important to ensure that economic policy does not ignore social expenditure or the poverty dimension. In addition, President Museveni himself has repeatedly stressed the importance of attracting more private investment to Uganda in order to replace the foreign aid which can only be regarded as temporary. Other sectors needing attention are industrialization and privatization. As a landlocked country, Uganda needs to look to markets among its immediate neighbours. The new strategy should further include development of more linkages between agriculture and industry. It also needs to respond to people's basic needs and small-scale industries must be developed further. Only thus can industrialization contribute to economic welfare and sustainable development in Uganda. Privatization also needs to be reconsidered. It has contributed to the country's record rate of economic growth of 7-8 per cent, but so far it has not increased employment opportunities at all significantly. Nor has it enlarged the number of Ugandan entrepreneurs. Poverty, too, has not been reduced so far by privatization. There remams substantial room for development in most sectors of the Ugandan economy, creating opportunities for further and increased foreign investment. These sectors include food processmg and packing, construction equipment and electrical power systems, telecommunications equipment and services, travel and tourism services, light manufacturing, household consumer goods, footwear, furniture and textile fabrics, mining, mining industry equipment, non-ferrous metals, marine fisheries products and agriculture, including traditional crops such as coffee, cotton, tea and tobacco, fruit and vegetable processing, edible oil production, staple food crops processing, flowers and livestock. The vehicles for the facilitation of foreign investment are in place, the investment climate is open and friendly towards foreign investors, with an established investment code and incentive regime, offering generous capital recovery terms, particularly for investors whose projects entail significant investment in plant and machinery and whose investments are medium to long term. Uganda offers a predictable environment having achieved macro-economic stability at a time when clouds of uncertainty rock many regions in the world.

Commercial listed property is a complex, yet potentially lucrative asset class to invest in. South Africa’s property index delivered average returns of 34% for 2006/7 and was rated best performer internationally. While many of the funds in the sector as still forecasting excellent yields, some are struggling to survive in the current, difficult economic environment. The main objective of this study was to enter the realm of the property fund manager in order to gain a better understanding of the underlying assets, the macro-economic challenges, portfolio risks and investment valuation criteria. A qualitative research study was done with decision makers within the listed property environment using investment case studies covering the retail, office, industrial and hotel sectors. The results of the research were developed into a framework providing insight into the investment valuation process and portfolio strategies employed by some of the leading funds and which can be used as a decision-model for potential investors. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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Real estate offers substantial returns to astute investors but the real estate investment decision is not generally well understood and as a consequence, this ignorance often causes inadequately prepared investors to venture into poorly conceived and subsequently financially disastrous projects. One of the most important considerations in the analysis of real estate investments is the measure of investment performance or return. Over the years, many different measures have been used to indicate the relative profitability of real estate investments with the interesting dilemma that different measures produced different relative rankings of investment desirability and different absolute indicators of investment return. In the past, real estate analysts have emphasized "traditional" or "first generation" measures of investment return which are mathematically unsophisticated, contain few financial variables and give no explicit consideration to the time value of money. Analysts in the fields of investments and corporation finance widely use the more sophisticated discounted cash flow or "second generation" measures of analysis. Academic researchers in real estate support the theoretical superiority of discounted cash flow measures and claim that their use is widespread among the real estate community. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to develop an understanding of the current practice regarding real estate investment analysis with particular emphasis on the measures of return used and the degree of sophistication in investment analysis according to the size and type of investor; and (2) to test the predictive utility of the various measures of return. The following hypotheses are to be tested: 1. Real estate investors remain relatively unsophisticated in their approach to investment analysis. 2. 2. The degree of sophistication in investment analysis is positively related to the size and type of investor. 3. 3. Failure to use available measures of investment return is due to a lack of understanding on the part of the neglecting investors and difficulties arising from the estimation of the necessary input data. 4. 4. The ability of the real estate community to make more accurate and hence, more profitable real estate decisions is directly related to the use of more sophisticated measures of return. 5. A questionnaire survey, the first in Canada, was developed and administered to the following samples: (1) 300 real estate equity investors and (2) 150 ICI real estate brokers. The findings strongly suggest that real estate investors remain unsophisticated in their approach to investment analysis relative to other business fields. The real estate community continues to rely on first generation or traditional measures of return or performance to evaluate real estate investment opportunities. The most popular before-tax measures of return employed by those surveyed were Return on Investment (net operation income/purchase price) and the Equity Dividend Rate (net operating income - debt service/equity). For those respondents employing an after-tax measure, the most popular were After-tax Cash Flow (first year)/Equity and the Internal Rate of Return. It was shown that many of the respondents lacked the knowledge and understanding required of the more sophisticated measures of performance common to other business fields. They appeared to select a particular measure and then fail to adhere to the specific methodology of the chosen measure. Sophistication in real estate investment analysis was shown to be a function of the type of company and portfolio size since large public real estate corporations employed more sophisticated methods and techniques with a greater frequency relative to other investors. An empirical test was developed to examine the predictive utility of the various measure of investment return identified in theory (Chapter 2) and in practice (Chapter 3). The approach taken was to compare the ex ante returns from a sample of 15 apartment properties over the period 1970 to 1977 with the ex post returns over the same period. Thus, it was possible to measure the deviations between the predicted and actual returns each with a corresponding investment ranking as a test of the accuracy and reliability of prediction using each measure of return. The findings suggest that first generation measures of return will predict investment returns and relative investment rankings as closely correlated to that which actually occurred as will the more sophisticated second generation or discounted cash flow (DCF) measures of return. This result can be traced to the implicit requirements of the methodologies of first generation measures necessitating only one year forecasts of input parameters. The failure of the DCF models to provide clearly superior predictions of investment performance was largely due to the inaccurate forecasts of key input parameters, particularly sales price at the end of the holding period. The empirical test revealed that different measures of return produced different relative rankings of investment desirability and different absolute indicators of investment return. The results do not allow any specific measure or group of measures (first generation or DCF) to be hailed as a more accurate and reliable predictor of investment return in real estate. Indeed, the poor predictive utility of the various measures raise a question as to the reliability of prediction into the future for real estate investment analysis in general. Thus, it is clear that the results of the sample test do not lend support to the hypothesis that the ability of the real estate community to make more accurate and reliable, and hence more profitable, real estate decisions is directly related to the use of the more sophisticated discounted cash flow measures of return. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

Master's thesis includes a proposal of development plan for the company Vadaš Ltd., which operates in the field of tourism. The work is composed of a theoretical part and of analysis of the current situation. Based on this analysis, is proposed a plan to strengthen the position in the market.

The thesis suggests a business plan for the future development of existing company. It deals and explores with opportunities in a related field using corporate know-how and try to suggest a project that would contribute to greater profitability, to further spread and stabilization of the current market share and also strengthens the company name. The aim of my thesis therefore is, on the base of an analysis, suggest such a project, where previous experiences are going to be used to improve the competitiveness and further company development.

Master´s thesis is focused on efficiency analysis of two investment projects of the company JKZ Bučovice, a.s. These investments are aimed at purchase of modern technologies which extended manufacturing capacity of the company and which increased the added value of products for customers. The first part includes theoretical knowledge of investment and investment actiities and also defines the possible methods of evaluation. The second part describes the company, investments projects and there is also analyzed the financial situation. The next part shows calculations associated with the investment project efficiency. The conclusion will provide evaluation of projects and formulation of possible propositions for next investment projects.

Corruption is increasingly playing a critical role in international investment arbitration disputes. Investors have lost rights under BITs against a State due to corruptly securing its investment. Corruption has been raised by the investor as a sword, and by the State as a shield against investor’s claims. This has raised concerns about whether international investment arbitrations and institutions should be seized with corruption matters and if so, in what form and substance. This thesis argues that the contemporary international investment regulatory regime is inadequate to combat corruption in foreign investment transactions. The main challenge with the bulk of the international investment agreements which contain anti- corruption clauses is that these provisions are couched as general principles and prohibitions, merely encouraging the host States to enact and enforce anti-corruption laws. These instruments are of less functional value to investment arbitrators when faced with allegations of corruption. It further argues that the prevailing host State’s legal mechanisms are inherently inadequate to effectively regulate and combat corruption relating to foreign direct investments, and therefore there is a need for an international intervention through international investment agreements. The situation is exacerbated by the divergent approaches taken by investment arbitrators when dealing with corruption in investment transactions. This thesis recommends the adoption of an elaborate anti-corruption clause in international investment agreements. The main contribution of this thesis is to suggest a framework for combatting corruption in investment transactions. It provides a model anti-corruption treaty clause which attempts to promote accountability of both the foreign investor and the State. This model anti-corruption clause includes guiding factors that arbitrators in the investor-State arbitration may take into account when arbitrating disputes involving corruption, so that they can meaningfully contribute towards combatting corruption. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Public Law / LLD / Unrestricted

This study examined the interaction between saving, investment and economic growth in Namibia. The relationship between these variables is central to Namibia’s guiding macroeconomic framework. However, empirical evidence has shown that the relationship between saving, investment and economic growth depends on the country context. This makes it important to understand the policy implications of the interaction between these variables in Namibia. The specific objectives of the study were to investigate the causal relationship between saving and investment and the impact of the saving-investment relationship on economic growth in Namibia. The diagnostic testing using the Johansen cointegration test revealed a long-run relationship between the study variables with one cointegrating equation. The long run analysis was followed by Granger causality tests to understand short-run causal relationships between the variables. Impulse response functions and variance decompositions were also estimated to examine the interaction between the variables. The results from the Vector Error Correction Model showed that there was a positive long-run relationship between economic growth and investment, & savings and investment in Namibia. The Granger causality test revealed a causal relationship between saving and investment, consistent with the long-run analysis. The study implications are that a pro-saving policy can achieve increased investment. However, the long run relationship between investment and economic growth implies that investment should be made on a longer term for it to impact on economic growth. It is therefore recommended that Namibia implements policies to encourage long term investments. This can be achieved through waiving duty on capital goods and offering tax incentives to investors in strategic sectors of the economy.