Trade ministry to start registering SMEs

The trade ministry is to partner with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) to have all the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) registered.

This, according to Amelia Kyambadde, the trade minister is aimed at reducing the losses government incurs in tax defaulters.

She noted that the process is mandatory and everyone must embrace it.

"We shall use the district commercial officers to have all the owners on board. We shall also use the Kampala Capital City Authority. The future is in formal business, you cannot operate business when you are not paying taxes or linked to any form of support or public sector," she stated.

Kyambadde was speaking during the sidelines of breaking of the ground ceremony for Arena Mall in Nsambya, a Kampala suburb. 

In 2016, Uganda was ranked as the most enterprising country in the world, flooring developed countries such as Germany, France.

This was according to the data released by Apporoved Index, which researches about the most entrepreneurial countries worldwide.

However, there have been various reports indicating the rampant rate of business collapse in the country, partly blamed on low entrepreneurship skills.

Kyambadde says it is difficult to help the Government to help traders in informal businesses in different scenarios like trainings or giving them equipment when they aren't registered.She said many people have for long been operating such businesses and she says is not good.