Museveni promises investors free land
Dec 10, 2008
President Yoweri Museveni has assured investors of free land in an attempt to promote the export of value-added products and generate jobs and revenue.
By Barbara Among
President Yoweri Museveni has assured investors of free land in an attempt to promote the export of value-added products and generate jobs and revenue.
“Land should be given free,†the President said. “No question of rent. We shall recover it through creating jobs for our people.â€
Museveni said this would boost the investment climate.
The President made the comments while opening the Organisation for Economic Corporation and Development meeting at the Imperial Royal Hotel, Kampala, yesterday.
The forum brings together 30 European countries, the USA, Japan, South Korea and Mexico with the aim of addressing challenges of globalisation.
It works with NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development) to support African countries come up with policy reforms that strengthen investment and development.
During their two-day meeting in Kampala, the delegates will discuss investment on transport infrastructure and regional integration.
Transport costs remain high in Africa, accounting for 14% of the value of exports, compared to only 8.6% for developed countries.
Currently, only 27.6% of Africa’s two million kilometres of roads is paved compared to 43% in Asia and 33.5 in Latin America.
“If we address this bottleneck, including adding value to our products, our economies will be doing much better,†he said.
The acting chief executive of NEPAD, Willoughby Olukorede, said African governments needed to develop consistent policies in a bid to attract private investors to the road sector.
“There is high risk involved and African governments need to give assurances, fight corruption, improve transparency and political stability,†said Olukorede. Mario Amano, the OECD deputy secretary general, said the member states were willing to share experiences with Africa on road infrastructure.
On energy, the President warned environmentalists against sabotaging the building of hydro-power dams. “Building a dam in Africa is a war. Everybody fights you,†he said. “Some clowns called environmentalists talk of environmental protection when in Uganda we destroy 40 billion cubic metres of wood annually because of firewood?â€
“Anybody who is a friend of Africa must talk of dams, electricity, if you don’t do that, you can go to hell, I am not interested in you,†Museveni said.
Africa needs to use alternative sources of energy to attract investments and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which call for the reduction of poverty by half by 2015.
“If we don’t develop electricity facilities, how shall we achieve the MDGs? Are we supposed to use magic, witch-craft or what?†he asked. “Electricity together with transport will lower the cost of doing business and open investment opportunities.â€
President Yoweri Museveni has assured investors of free land in an attempt to promote the export of value-added products and generate jobs and revenue.
“Land should be given free,†the President said. “No question of rent. We shall recover it through creating jobs for our people.â€
Museveni said this would boost the investment climate.
The President made the comments while opening the Organisation for Economic Corporation and Development meeting at the Imperial Royal Hotel, Kampala, yesterday.
The forum brings together 30 European countries, the USA, Japan, South Korea and Mexico with the aim of addressing challenges of globalisation.
It works with NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development) to support African countries come up with policy reforms that strengthen investment and development.
During their two-day meeting in Kampala, the delegates will discuss investment on transport infrastructure and regional integration.
Transport costs remain high in Africa, accounting for 14% of the value of exports, compared to only 8.6% for developed countries.
Currently, only 27.6% of Africa’s two million kilometres of roads is paved compared to 43% in Asia and 33.5 in Latin America.
“If we address this bottleneck, including adding value to our products, our economies will be doing much better,†he said.
The acting chief executive of NEPAD, Willoughby Olukorede, said African governments needed to develop consistent policies in a bid to attract private investors to the road sector.
“There is high risk involved and African governments need to give assurances, fight corruption, improve transparency and political stability,†said Olukorede. Mario Amano, the OECD deputy secretary general, said the member states were willing to share experiences with Africa on road infrastructure.
On energy, the President warned environmentalists against sabotaging the building of hydro-power dams. “Building a dam in Africa is a war. Everybody fights you,†he said. “Some clowns called environmentalists talk of environmental protection when in Uganda we destroy 40 billion cubic metres of wood annually because of firewood?â€
“Anybody who is a friend of Africa must talk of dams, electricity, if you don’t do that, you can go to hell, I am not interested in you,†Museveni said.
Africa needs to use alternative sources of energy to attract investments and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which call for the reduction of poverty by half by 2015.
“If we don’t develop electricity facilities, how shall we achieve the MDGs? Are we supposed to use magic, witch-craft or what?†he asked. “Electricity together with transport will lower the cost of doing business and open investment opportunities.â€