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Foreign investors must collaborate not compete, says private sector
As of last week, according to Uganda Investment Authority, Uganda had secured deals worth $900m in a number of sectors. PHOTO | FILE
DUBAI. Investors coming to Uganda must collaborate with local businesses instead of engaging in cutthroat competition to push them out of the market, according to private sector leaders.
Speaking at the Dubai 2020 Expo in United Arab Emirates, Ms Barbara Mulwana, the Presidential CEO Forum chairperson, said investors seeking to invest in Uganda should appreciate local collaboration by not engaging in cutthroat competition.
Collaboration, she said, makes more sense than predatory competition, noting that investors and local businesses must push in the same direction to achieve a common goal.
In her presentation, Ms Mulwana also stressed the need for government to put together an export promotion strategy that will increase export incentives, undertake aggressive export promotion, link producers and foreign buyers and open up marketing offices and employ commercial attachés in target markets, among others.
“Uganda avails a great opportunity as an investment hub,” she said, noting that the fast growing private sector sustained by a skilled labour force, provides an enabling environment for businesses to maximise their potential.
As of last week, according to Uganda Investment Authority, Uganda had secured deals worth $900m in a number of sectors such as energy and transport.
The expo will run for six months through which Uganda will showcase its potential as a business hub.
Uganda has through the years sought to enhance capacity of local production through a number of initiatives, among which include Buy Uganda, Build Uganda and import substitution.
As a result, there has been increased production, fuelling an increase in exports to $1b (both formal and informal), according to Mr Douglas Opio, a member of the Presidential CEO Forum.
Ms Mulwana, who is also the chairperson of Uganda Manufacturers Association, stressed the need for government officials who had travelled to Dubai to apply valuable experiences exhibited at the expo to develop Uganda into a modern country.
“We are hoping that you will learn something from here, even if it is just to take a little from what is happening here in UAE,” she said.
