President Museveni Lists Advantages to Why Uae Investors Should Take Up Opportunities in Uganda

President Yoweri Museveni has asked top investors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to take up the untapped opportunities available in Uganda.

Museveni was addressing the UAE-Uganda Presidential Initiative on Investment Summit in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi in January 2023 when he told the participants that although Uganda’s economy was growing at 6% per annum; the economy had great potential to grow faster.

A State House press statement said: “The President described Uganda and the African continent as a gold mine with many untapped business and investment opportunities that he encouraged the United Arab Emirates investors to take advantage of.”

“Uganda and Africa in general are like a gold mine and we are just at the entrance of the mine. You the business people need to take advantage of these opportunities” Museveni is quoted to have said.

The President is said to have briefed the investors about the economic history of Uganda and noted that although the ruling National Resistance Movement government inherited a “largely collapsed economy when it got into power, the NRM has managed to take the country’s economy through the phases of economic recovery, expanded, diversified and transformed the economy both quantitatively and qualitatively”.

“He added that the expansion saw the already existing economic sectors of the economy increase their volumes of production, diversification saw the emergency of new sectors while transformation was characterized by value addition to the country’s produce and the production of the products of knowledge through science, technology and innovation,” the press statement further said.

African market

According to State House, President Museveni told the business forum that it was wise for any business-minded person to invest in Uganda because of its large market of 43 million people, the East African market of 300 million people that is tax and quota free.

He further advised the investors to take advantage of the African market that has been united through the signing of the continental free trade area agreement.

“He further said that Uganda is blessed with a young skilled labour force that will provide the required labor and at affordable remuneration. He particularly said that they can target to invest in import substitution industries that have a ready market in the country and save the country from exporting both wealth and jobs to the outside world,” the statement said.

He reiterated his government commitment to do away with the corrupt and lazy government officials that tend to among other things delay the licensing of businesses and seek bribes from potential investors.

“President Museveni added that government is committed and is on track to further ease the way of doing business in the country by lowering the cost of transport through the construction of standard gauge railway, bettering the road network and the water transport,” the presser said.

He further said that government was working on lowering the cost of industrial energy tariffs, by getting as many sources of energy as possible and also lowering the cost of borrowing.

FDI Uganda’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Zaake Kibedi said the remittances of Ugandans working there had jumped from $50m in 2018 to $1.5 billion in 2023 while foreign direct investment rose from $600m to $1.5 billion.

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