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Made in Uganda and bigger question of who buys what Uganda produces
Uganda’s economic growth will not depend on production alone. The real test is whether what the country produces can reach reliable buyers, create income and grow into sustainable businesses, writes Bashabe Felix Ssembajjwe
Bashabe Felix Ssembajjwe. (Courtesy)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By Bashabe Felix Ssembajjwe
Uganda is producing more, and that is an important part of the country’s economic story.
Through the Parish Development Model, industrialisation, agro-processing, tourism growth, oil and gas development and preparations for AFCON 2027, more households, businesses and sectors are being drawn into productive economic activity.
The bigger question is what happens after production.
Who buys what Uganda produces?
That question matters even more as Uganda pursues its Tenfold Growth Strategy, with the ambition of growing the economy from about US$50 billion to US$500 billion by 2040. Reaching that target will depend on stronger businesses, deeper domestic demand, greater value addition, wider distribution and more Ugandan products reaching regional and global markets.
President Yoweri Museveni has repeatedly linked wealth creation to the availability of markets, recently noting that a strong market makes it easier for wealth creators to succeed. That idea speaks directly to one of the biggest challenges facing producers today: making sure increased production is matched by dependable demand.
The Parish Development Model was created to move households from subsistence into commercial production. Government says Shs4.4 trillion has been transferred across all 10,589 parishes, with more than four million beneficiaries expected to have accessed the programme. As that investment moves into its next phase, attention is increasingly shifting to productivity, value addition and finding reliable markets for what is produced.
That progression is important. Increasing production creates economic opportunity, but adding value is what can improve what a producer earns, and dependable demand is what eventually turns that value into income. The same principle applies whether it is a household moving into commercial agriculture, an SME developing a packaged product or a manufacturer seeking national or regional scale.
Uganda is entering a period in which several new sources of demand are beginning to take shape.
Tourism reached 1.64 million international visitors in 2025 and generated about sh5.83 trillion in receipts. AFCON 2027 is expected to create activity far beyond football, opening opportunities across hospitality, tourism, transport, trade and local supply. At the same time, the oil and gas economy is creating new supply chains, new communities and new procurement needs.
Taken together, these developments raise a practical national question. When visitors arrive, hotels expand, industries grow and major international events come to Uganda, how many Ugandan products will be present when those buying decisions are made?
This is where Made In Uganda, MIU, fits into the wider national ambition.
As national programmes support production and value addition, MIU is working on the commercial layer that connects Ugandan products to buyers. The initiative brings together vendors and products through digital commerce, physical retail, fulfilment, delivery, product discovery, media, creator partnerships and other market-facing activity.
The Made In Uganda Supermarket at UMA gives consumers a physical point where locally made products can be discovered and bought, with digital channels extending that access beyond the store. Fulfilment and delivery then help complete the path from vendor to customer.
The Parish Development Model was created to move households from subsistence into commercial production. Government says Shs4.4 trillion has been transferred across all 10,589 parishes, with more than four million beneficiaries expected to have accessed the programme. As that investment moves into its next phase, attention is increasingly shifting to productivity, value addition and finding reliable markets for what is produced.
That progression is important. Increasing production creates economic opportunity, but adding value is what can improve what a producer earns, and dependable demand is what eventually turns that value into income. The same principle applies whether it is a household moving into commercial agriculture, an SME developing a packaged product or a manufacturer seeking national or regional scale.
Uganda is entering a period in which several new sources of demand are beginning to take shape.
Tourism reached 1.64 million international visitors in 2025 and generated about sh5.83 trillion in receipts. AFCON 2027 is expected to create activity far beyond football, opening opportunities across hospitality, tourism, transport, trade and local supply. At the same time, the oil and gas economy is creating new supply chains, new communities and new procurement needs.
Taken together, these developments raise a practical national question. When visitors arrive, hotels expand, industries grow and major international events come to Uganda, how many Ugandan products will be present when those buying decisions are made?
This is where Made In Uganda, MIU, fits into the wider national ambition.
As national programmes support production and value addition, MIU is working on the commercial layer that connects Ugandan products to buyers. The initiative brings together vendors and products through digital commerce, physical retail, fulfilment, delivery, product discovery, media, creator partnerships and other market-facing activity.
The Made In Uganda Supermarket at UMA gives consumers a physical point where locally made products can be discovered and bought, with digital channels extending that access beyond the store. Fulfilment and delivery then help complete the path from vendor to customer.
For Moses Byaruhanga, Venture Lead at Made In Uganda, the connection between production and demand is central to Uganda’s next phase of growth.
“Uganda is already doing significant work to help people and businesses produce. The next part of the chain is making sure those products can be discovered, distributed and bought. If we are serious about building a much larger economy, we have to create stronger commercial pathways around what Ugandans are already producing.”
Viewed through that lens, Uganda’s different national priorities begin to connect more clearly. A PDM beneficiary moving into commercial production needs a reliable buyer. A manufacturer expanding capacity needs dependable demand. Tourism creates opportunities for Ugandan products to become part of the visitor experience, just as AFCON creates new consumption and supplier opportunities. Oil and gas will introduce fresh procurement needs, and export growth will depend on Ugandan businesses being able to serve larger markets consistently.
These are not separate economic conversations. They are different parts of the same national ambition.
Uganda’s path to a US$500 billion economy will depend partly on how well the country turns production into value, connects that value to demand and allows that demand to support sustainable enterprise.
The bigger question is no longer simply how much Uganda can produce.
It is how much of what Uganda produces can find a buyer, create income and grow into lasting enterprise.
The writer is the manager technology infrastructure at Vision Group
“Uganda is already doing significant work to help people and businesses produce. The next part of the chain is making sure those products can be discovered, distributed and bought. If we are serious about building a much larger economy, we have to create stronger commercial pathways around what Ugandans are already producing.”
Viewed through that lens, Uganda’s different national priorities begin to connect more clearly. A PDM beneficiary moving into commercial production needs a reliable buyer. A manufacturer expanding capacity needs dependable demand. Tourism creates opportunities for Ugandan products to become part of the visitor experience, just as AFCON creates new consumption and supplier opportunities. Oil and gas will introduce fresh procurement needs, and export growth will depend on Ugandan businesses being able to serve larger markets consistently.
These are not separate economic conversations. They are different parts of the same national ambition.
Uganda’s path to a US$500 billion economy will depend partly on how well the country turns production into value, connects that value to demand and allows that demand to support sustainable enterprise.
The bigger question is no longer simply how much Uganda can produce.
It is how much of what Uganda produces can find a buyer, create income and grow into lasting enterprise.
The writer is the manager technology infrastructure at Vision Group