President Yoweri Museveni at Uganda and European Union has called upon European investors to take advantage of Uganda’s profitability and invest in Agriculture and value addition.
He made the remarks while opening the 2nd Uganda- EU Business Forum that opened at the Speke Resort Munyonyo on Wednesday, October 26, 2022.
Under the theme “Mobilizing quality investments and boosting trade between Uganda and the European Union”, this year’s forum explores a renewed commitment by both public and private sector stakeholders to building stronger Uganda – European Union business, investment, and trade ties.
President Museveni also assured investors of the ready market in Uganda and with the East African integration, even bigger.
“I have been commissioning different factories, and Chinese and Indians are investing here, how come the Europeans with whom we share a similar language (English) are not doing the same? Uganda is profitable, peaceful and pleasant and so ready for business. There are big opportunities in investing and doing business in Uganda,” he said.
With the growing population in Africa, Museveni revealed that investors should tap into the opportunity as the market is readily available.
“For the first time, the population of Africa is overtaking the population of China, and India and it will be 2.5 billion in the next 30 years. Therefore, for the European companies, and governments and political groups, this is the moment to utilise and make investments in Africa,” he advised.
While speaking at the forum, the Head of the European Delegation in Uganda, Jan Sadek lauded the forum as a means of mobilising higher levels of private investments and creating new business opportunities in priority sectors in Uganda.
“We have a key role to play to enable European investors to have a deeper understanding of Uganda’s business environment and investment climate. The message we are conveying to European companies and investors is to come to Uganda to seize the opportunities offered by the Pearl of Africa and the region. We will all benefit from those partnerships,” he said.
He added that a lot can be done to foster trade and investment between Uganda and Europe.
The Minister of State for Investment and Privatization, Evelyn Anite appreciated President Museveni for creating a conducive environment that has enabled investors to set up big factories in Uganda. She said this has helped Uganda to develop economically.
She said that the country has stopped donating money to foreign countries because of Mr Museveni’s able leadership.
UIA Board Chairman, Morrison Rwakakamba, told European Union investors that the return on investment for investing in Uganda is one of the highest in Africa.
“Our President has diligently and tirelessly worked to ensure that in Uganda, businesses not only survive but thrive,” he said.
Rwakakamba said the forum also sought to showcase at least 50 bankable projects from the Ugandan private sector and a dozen high-ticket public projects
The business forum was organised by Sustainable Business For Uganda (SB4U), a fruit of a partnership between the EU, the Government of Uganda (GoU), and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) funded by the EU.
The two-day High-Level Business Forum is a unique platform that brings together Ugandan and European policymakers, public sector agencies, EU Member States embassies and consulates, private sector trade support institutions, business associations and Chambers of Commerce, captains of industries, financial and non-financial intermediaries, investors, development partners and donor agencies, academia and the civil society to network exchange experiences and explore win-win investment and trade opportunities.
During the first day of the forum, there were break-up workshops, an exhibition, and pitching sessions of Ugandan companies seeking partnerships with European companies in various ventures.
