President Yoweri Museveni has tasked the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to create mechanisms through which investors are heard and supported.
Addressing thousands of investors from across Uganda at the UIA-organised inaugural Presidential Investor Conference (PIC) in Kampala, President Museveni tasked the two government entities to develop clear and faster reporting channels for dealing with investment and business issues raised by investors.
President Museveni said the Presidential Investor Conference is good because both domestic and international investors get together with the ministers and public servants to identify bottlenecks to investment and find ways of resolving them.
On access to capital, the President advised the investors to utilize the scheme provided by the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) where the government injects funds annually for investors to access. The government in one year has injected 230 million dollars to help investors who need support.
Other funds available to investors are the UGX1 trillion for exports and the UGX831-billion World Bank Investment Investment for Industrial Transformation and Employment (INVITE).
On the issue of infrastructure, President Museveni said the government will continue to handle this, especially to bring down the price of electricity to United States dollars, five(5) cents.
The President pointed out that in supporting investors, money is not the problem but rather organization and linkages of investment support initiatives.
President Museveni advised the investors to venture into agricultural value chains – from farm to processed foods to markets and directed UIA and other responsible agencies to follow up on their progress.
The President noted that Uganda is beginning to achieve vertical integration in many sectors and these are expanding investment opportunities along the value chains like in coffee, fruits, cereals, cassava, bananas, Irish potatoes, cotton, beef, milk, leather, and so on.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Kahinda Otafiire, said the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control is doing all it can to improve immigration processes and experience and urged investors to report any bureaucratic hurdles.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Norbert Mao, said the Presidential Investor Conference enables the government to nurture investors who are creators of wealth, jobs & growers of the economy which provides money the country uses.
The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija, said Uganda has been cited variously as the best investment and business destination in Africa.
The State Minister for Privatisation and Investment, Evelyn Anite, said the Presidential Investor Conference is meant for the President to hear directly from Investors and address their investment and business issues.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Ramadhan Ggobi, said the government has in place elaborate financing schemes that investors should access.
The Commissioner General of Uganda Revenue Authority, John Musinguzi, advised investors to pick interest and benefit from generous tax incentives enshrined in various laws, dispelling the perception that incentives favour only foreign investors.
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(David Rupiny, Babra Nambuya & Shamim Saad)