'Increased UIA funding will drive industrialisation'

MPs on the House finance committee have hailed the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) for successfully advancing Uganda’s industrialisation agenda and have, therefore, called for more budgetary support.

The legislators say there is a need for solid financing for industrial park development to boost investments in value-adding projects and cottage industries and create jobs, especially for the youth.

Committee chairperson Amos Kankunda says: “I’m happy to learn that the Authority has created a body, the Domestic Investment Division, entirely meant to ease the investment processes for our local investors. We applaud UIA for that”.

Committee’s acting vice-chairperson Dr Emely Kugonza says for Uganda to achieve 10-fold economic growth, there must be a strong investment in industrial park development across Uganda.

"We need to change the trajectory and narratives. The Government and the Ministry of Finance should adequately finance the Uganda Investment Authority to get our industrial growth and development to where we want to be", he said.

This was on January 16, 2025, when the UIA’s Budget Framework Paper (BFP) for the financial year 2025/2026 was presented. The entity's director general, Robert Mukiza, led the UIA management team.

The Authority is seeking shillings 173.9 billion to cater for wage and non-wage expenditures, with the bulk of the money, shillings 161.5 billion, in already approved external financing, going for ongoing infrastructure development in industrial parks.

In the financial year 2025/26, UIA’s key priority intervention would be promoting Uganda as the preferred destination for foreign and domestic investment in Africa to increase the value of investments.

Another key intervention is improving domestic and international competitiveness and a “doing business environment” through an efficient one-business-stop centre to reduce business costs.

Other key interventions are accelerating Uganda’s industrialization through serviced industrial and business parks to promote investment for economic transformation and employment creation through value addition and technology transfer and undertaking research and advocacy for favourable investment measures and policies.

The planned activities include establishing appropriate value-addition infrastructure, modern packaging and branding industries and services to support value-addition, decentralized government services to the private sector through the UIA One-Stop Centre, and aggressive investment promotion and facilitation.

The MPs said they are happy to note the UIA’s work in promoting investment and industrialization is visible and progressive, citing industrial park development, industries, and increasing varieties and volumes of locally made products and services.

Mukiza said the authority is laser-focused on investments that add value to local raw materials, create jobs and transfer technology, knowledge, and skills.

Mukiza said UIA does not favour international investors over domestic ones, emphasizing all are considered investors and are entitled to government tax and non-tax incentives.

He said to drive domestic investment, UIA has in place a division dedicated to domestic investment promotion.

In the financial year 2023/24, UIA licensed 426 planned investment projects valued at 2.61 billion dollars, equivalent to 9.63 trillion Ugandan shillings.