Over 750 business elite and investors from the influential global Lohana Indian community are converging in Kampala for an investment summit dubbed “Africa Calling”.
The three-day event (March 20 – 22, 2023) – the Lohana International Business Forum – will be held at Speke Resort Munyonyo, part of Ruparelia Group owned by business tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia, also a Lohana.
In Uganda, the Lohana Community form one of the strongest investment and business blocs and includes luminaries like Ruparelia Group (real estate and hospitality), Madhvani and Mehta (sugar) and House of Dawda (processed foods), amongst others.
They form part of the 27,000-strong Indian community that dominates trade, real estate and manufacturing in Uganda.
Welcoming the Summit, the Minister of State for Privatisation and Investment Hon. Evelyn Anite said the country needs more Lohana investors to join those who are already making it big.
Minister Anite said the Government of Uganda guarantees investments and has created a very conducive environment for investors and businesses to thrive.
The Chairman of the Indian Association of Uganda, Mohan Rao, said Uganda has been very welcoming to Indians, some of whom have made the country their home for over 100 years now.
Rao said the Indians now appreciate and embrace the Ugandan culture in addition to enjoying the country’s peace, stability and opportunities.
According to Rao, the Indian community consider their stay in Uganda as “peaceful, pleasant and profitable”.
He said India is the second source country for investments in Uganda, citing that from 2015 to 2020 Uganda Investment Authority licensed 228 Indian investment projects valued at 464.5 million dollars and created 20,000 direct jobs.
Rao said the Lohana International Business Forum follows the highly successful Afro-Indian Investment Summit of 2022 which attracted investment projects worth 169.5 million dollars to Uganda.
Binay Dawda, of House of Dawda, said the Lohana community have chosen to host the Investment Summit in Uganda because of the country’s strategic location in the heart of Africa which offers access to markets like the East African Community, the Great Lakes Region and the African continent.
Meanwhile, Minister Anite disclosed that the Government, through Uganda Investment Authority, is offering Indian investors a 500-acre industrial park in the Lake Albert Basin where oil and gas exploitation is ongoing.
She said the industrial park will focus on agro value-addition, manufacturing, ICT and services.
“We want quality products and services and jobs”, she said.
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