UIA encourages local manufacturing in Kampala

The Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) has revealed a new initiative to encourage traders in Kampala’s business hub, known as Kikuubo, to transition from trading in imported products to manufacturing them locally

Named ‘Transitioning Kikuubo Traders to Manufacturing’, the initiative aims to promote import substation to enable traders who have traditionally traded in imported products to seize import substitution opportunities and incentives that will come with this (such as zero tax rates, free industrial park land, tax holidays, and others).

The initiative was unveiled by Robert Mukiza, director general of the UIA, during a meeting at the organisation’s head office. Traders from Kikuubo and officials from the Global Competitiveness Initiative (GCI) and the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) were invited to learn more.

At the meeting, Mukiza explained that a special desk has been created under the Domestic Investment Division, full of work plans, targets, and timelines to ensure a faster transition of business people from trading to manufacturing. He added that traders (especially those in Kikuubo) have deeper knowledge of the business environment, and supply chains and have sizeable cash flow, key ingredients in the transition to local manufacturing of products the country imports.

“Domestic investors are crucial to Uganda’s industrialisation that is why it is UIA’s special mission to see more traders transition to manufacture of products they have been importing,” remarked Mukiza, adding that once many traders successfully transition to manufacturing, more will follow suit, hence widening the domestic investment base.

To fasten the trading-to-manufacturing transition, Mukiza noted that UIA is acquiring additional land in Namanve Industrial Park specifically to cater to the Kikuubo traders interested in going for manufacturing, adding that land is also available in other industrial parks across Uganda.
“If you are targeting markets like the Democratic Republic of Congo or South Sudan, you don’t need to set up your factory in Greater Kampala but could go to industrial parks in Nebbi, Arua, or Kisoro,” he emphasised.

Support for local business

Joshua Kassibo, a representative of the traders, said for a long time they had perceived UIA as favouring foreign investors but through sustained engagements, they are now enlightened about investment opportunities and incentives they have been missing.

“We previously thought investors were only foreigners, but now we know we can transition to manufacturing, and we are ready. The main issue is how to work with UIA to enable our transition to processing and manufacturing,” said Kassibo.

Meanwhile, the chairperson of the GCI, Daudi Migereko, urged Ugandans to look at what to produce, process, manufacture, and export competitively. “If you have been trading in a product for many years, it is time to start manufacturing it locally. Let us go with the new wave of import substitution,” he surmised.