By Ayiga Ondoga

OVER sh115.8 billion has been secured by an American company to finance the businesses of Ugandan business community as loans.

Roger Morgan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steel heart International, California, USA secured the money from Ex-IM bank, USA to help promote and boost the businesses and services of both government and private sectors.

Morgan, who was accompanied by his business associate, EDL& Associate administrator, Edrine Ddungu requested for government support to smoothly operationalize the loan facility.

"We have different types of investment financing in the areas of housing, power generations, solar for off-grid heating/electricity, heavy and earth moving equipment, water purifications, sewage treatment, waste management and financing of products and services through the export-import bank among others," Morgan said.

He said interested business people who want the financing should have audited books of account for over three years to ascertain the growth of their businesses and bank statements.

He was speaking during a one day business forum on American products, services and financing at Lugogo UMA conference hall on Tuesday.

The function was presided over by the Vice President, Edward Kiwanuka Sekandi and attended by Water and Environment minister, Maria Mutagamba, chairman, Always Be Tolerate Organisation (ABETO), Moses Musana and several business people.

Morgan said, "When the Vice President visited California, USA, I and Ddungu inquired on how to help Ugandan business community, the Vice President encouraged us to explore business opportunities in Uganda especially energy and oil/gas sectors."

Sekandi commended the USA team for being development minded in a bid to transform a backward society to a modern economy for a brighter future.

"I welcome our friends who have come all the way from the US in order to roll out their developed technologies and services to our people.

There are profitable and serious investment opportunities in Uganda," Sekandi stated.

He said Uganda offers enormous investment potentials in the Great Lakes region, which has resulted to the 6% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the last 10 years.

"It's only the challenge of the power shortage which has affected the industrialization of the country. So, in order to fasten development, the aspect of energy generation should be addressed seriously," Sekandi said.

He added government was committed to promote public and private partnership in economic development.

Mutagamba appealed to the office of the Vice President to link the business people to the finance ministry by giving the right guidance.

Musana preached the principal of tolerance and peaceful co-existence in the business sectors if Uganda is to attain economic development.

"We strongly believe that if we tolerate each other's views, there would be harmony in society and peaceful co-existence because the cost of waging wars is very high in terms of human lives, war machinery, property and destruction of infrastructure and retardation of development," Musana concluded.