By Patrick Jaramogi

THE Management Training and Advisory Centre has embarked on a nationwide job creation awareness campaign using business-oriented approaches.

“We want to address the issue of unemployment by using relevant business development and management systems. We are using our mandate to equip Ugandans with entrepreneurship skills,” said Dr. George Tumwesigye, the executive director, at the institute in Nakawa, Kampala last week.

He said the training, to be conducted by Iris consultancy and training company, would boost the development of small-and-medium enterprises in the country.

Iga Zinunula, the director for small-and-Medium enterprises department at the Uganda Investment Authority, said the Government was partnering with MTAC to address the high rate of collapsing businesses in Uganda.

“We have discovered that 70% of new enterprises in the country don’t last to celebrate their third birthday. They close and lead to unemployment in the long-run.”
He pointed out the training will help business-minded people understand the concept of business before they start.

“That is why such courses on business development are important for small businesses,” he said.

“We want to make SMEs globally competitive,” Zinunula added. He said the Government had released sh1b this year to promote SMEs countrywide.

Zinunula said unlike what most Ugandans perceive, UIA is not for foreigners only.

“The incentives that we give are for all categories of investors either local or foreign but most local investors don’t know this,” he said.