Minister Bahati defends foreign investments
“Whoever comes and puts up a factory, whether you are a Ugandan or a foreigner, as long as you are employing our people, you are welcome,” he emphasised.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Industry state minister David Bahati said the Government’s focus was on economic growth rather than semantics. (File photo)
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Industry state minister David Bahati has dismissed criticism that the government’s industrialisation agenda promotes flunkeyism by offering excessive concessions to foreign investors while local businesses struggle.
The former Ndorwa West Member of Parliament made the remarks on July 14, 2026, during debate on a motion for a resolution of Parliament to express gratitude to President Yoweri Museveni for his exposition of Government policy in the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Bahati said the Government’s focus was on economic growth rather than semantics.
“I must make this bold statement. That it doesn’t matter who has put up a factory in Uganda. What matters is are we creating jobs for our people? Are we adding value to the things that we produce? Are we creating wealth for our Ugandans? We do encourage our indigenous Ugandans to go into the manufacturing sector, and that’s the reason why we have put up institutions like UDB (Uganda Development Bank) to help them access money,” Bahati explained.
“Whoever comes and puts up a factory, whether you are a Ugandan or a foreigner, as long as you are employing our people, you are welcome,” he emphasised.
Data from the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) shows that Uganda received $3.7 billion (sh13.32 trillion) in Foreign Direct Investment and $1.7 billion (sh6.12 trillion) in portfolio inflows during the election period.
Bahati’s comments followed concerns raised earlier by Katikamu South MP Hassan Kirumira (NUP).
“The clarification was on industrialisation and how the President is encouraging Ugandans to join the industrial sector. But like we all know, the industrial sector has been taken away by foreign nationals. If you move to the industries, for example, in Luwero. Industry after industry, most of them are foreign-owned. The clarification I am seeking from you, Honourable Minister, is for you to clarify on which nature of industries you wish Ugandans to join in the industrialisation process," Kirumira submitted.
More industries to be built
According to official documents, Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased from $3.9 billion (sh14.04 trillion) in 1986 to $69.3 billion (sh249.48 trillion). During this period, officials say GDP per capita rose to $1,278 (sh4.7 million).
Bahati said plans are underway to establish more factories to create jobs and generate wealth across the country.
“One of the things that we are focusing on in our sector is having factories in Karamoja, and so far as Remegio (Pian County MP) said, we have two cement industries. And then the clinker industry, and because of that factory, we are going to be saving close to 80 percent of the money that has been used for clinker to be used in road construction using our local materials from Karamoja,” Bahati stated.
Import substitution
Bahati said the Government’s ambition is to manufacture locally as many products currently imported as possible.
“We used to import sugar. But now we have excess sugar and also industrial sugar. The sugar that is used to produce soda and others is processed here from Kinyara. We used to import carbon dioxide, which is used in soda; now we have factories that manufacture carbon dioxide. We currently import close to $1 billion of steel and steel products,” he alluded.
“But we have now almost set up factories that have reduced this import substantially. We are producing steel here, companies like Roofings, Tembo and the others that are setting up in Tororo and our region Kigezi to take advantage of the iron ore that we have in our country, which is approximately 312 million tons of iron ore stocks,” he elaborated.
Bahati added that Uganda still has significant potential to benefit from exporting agro-processed products.
He argued that while almost 40 percent of honey sold in European markets is lab-made, Uganda has large quantities of naturally produced honey in different parts of the country.
“Our focus now, for one example, is to focus on processing honey so that we can export it to these countries. So that they get out from this honey made in laboratories and start enjoying natural honey that comes from Africa,” he stated.