Nabbanja assures European investors of govt support
Mar 08, 2024
According to Nabbanja, Uganda is keen to address any concerns European investors might have.
Robinah Nabbanja (L), Prime minister interacting with Jan Sadek, EU Ambassador to Uganda during the Third Uganda-European Union (EU) Business Forum. (Photos by Ssentongo Mpalanyi)
Nelson Mandela Muhoozi
Journalist @New Vision
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Premier Robinah Nabbanja has emphasised Uganda Government's commitment to supporting European investors.
“I want to assure our potential investors that the government will do anything possible to facilitate you to set up your investments in this country,” she says.
According to Nabbanja, Uganda is keen to address any concerns European investors might have.
She made the remarks while closing the Third Uganda-European Union (EU) Business Forum on March 7, 2024.
The three-day forum, which began on March 5, aimed to foster stronger economic ties between Uganda and the EU.
Nabbanja's assurances came at a time when Uganda was seeking to attract even more foreign investment to drive economic growth.
According to her, Uganda is an appealing destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), whereby in 2021, Uganda was the top recipient of FDI in the East African Community (EAC), amounting to $3.2 billion (about shillings 12.1 trillion).
She, however, noted that these achievements have not come about by accident, but because “Uganda is one of the safest and most peaceful countries in the world".
“Uganda has a friendly investment framework and policy and of course investors, both domestic and foreign receive several tax and non-tax incentives in line with the Investment Code Act 2019 legal framework that regulates and promotes investment in Uganda,” the Premier said, adding that the country is one of the best investment destinations in the world.
“The African Development Bank listed Uganda among the best investment destinations in Africa in 2023, with the economy projected to grow by 6.7 percent in 2024,” she said.
Key economic sectors for investment
The forum identified key economic sectors for trade and investment, including agribusiness, minerals-sustainable mining, enabling infrastructure for energy, and digital and sustainable tourism.
Nabbanja told EU investors and businesses that their investments in the above sectors will enable Uganda to achieve its economic goals and strengthen the partnership between Uganda and the EU.
The Government has already identified the same sectors as key for social economic transformation in the current third National Development Plan (NDP III).
She also welcomed the eight financial initiatives worth euros 218 million that were launched by Team Europe and Uganda to support development in different sectors including agriculture, climate change, and human rights and infrastructure initiatives.
The summit attracted over 3,700 participants taking part both physically and online according to Uganda's investment state minister, Evelyn Anite.
EU ambassador Jan Sadek, who was the main convener of the forum, confessed that it was a spectacular moment for the forum, as one would think that it was being held at one of the seven wonders of the world.
According to him, the high-level forum themed: Boosting Trade and Investments: What can Uganda gain from the Global Gateway? has served as a platform for collaboration between Ugandan and European businesses and government representatives.
Anite reiterated that Uganda’s investment climate is favorable because the rate of returns enjoyed by investors averaged 13.8% in 2022, the highest in the EAC and the fourth in Africa.
She appealed to EU investors to invest in Uganda but also underscored the contribution of the EU investors to Uganda’s FDI.
Total FDI inflows in 2019 amounted to 46.2%, with the EU private sector as a leading investor in the sectors of energy, agribusiness, ICT, construction, transport, tourism, finance/legal services, and education.
In this period, Uganda’s main exports to the EU were food, notably coffee, live animals (82.1%), and flowers (14.7%). Inversely, he noted that Uganda’s main imports from the EU were machinery (38.2%), and manufactured goods (22.8%).
Anite revealed that over three other deals were sealed including investors from Italy and Poland that are interested in investing in electronic mobility and hydro-power generation respectively.
The gathering at the forum included European Union ambassadors, and groups of investors from across the 11 EU countries, among others, France, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, and Sweden, with over 100 companies represented to attract investment and increase trade in Uganda.
Sh932b financial initiatives
In a move aimed at stimulating economic growth, President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday, March 6, 2204, signed eight financial agreements with the European Union (EU) worth €218 million (about shillings 932 billion).
The eight financial initiatives aim to among others, contribute to the reduction of human rights abuses particularly those impacting women, in business activities in Uganda, and boost value addition and agro-processing by unlocking affordable medium-term financing to agribusiness SMEs in Uganda.
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