Government breaks silence on Lugogo-based China Town store

State Minister for Finance in charge of Investment and Privatization, Ms Evelyn Anite has cautioned the business community in Uganda against importing goods that are similar to those produced locally.

Officiating at the launch of a two-day annual regional industrialization conference held in Kampala on September 25, Ms Anite said importation of such goods would disempower local manufacturers and render millions of Ugandans jobless.

“Government is promoting industrialization to create more jobs for Ugandans because the civil service jobs can only take on 471,000 people. Donating our money to the China Town store, means we are shunning products that are being made by our industrialists here,” the Minister explained while referring to a newly opened store at Lugogo Shopping Mall in Kampala.

Hundreds of customers have in the last few months been thronging the Lugogo-based China Town store to purchase relatively cheaper products.

This has however caused discomfort among Ugandan traders and manufacturers who are competing for the same clients.

Ms Anite asserted that Uganda’s population is growing at a fast pace amid high unemployment levels and that industrialization is among the key sectors that should be promoted to create jobs and generate revenue for the country to spur economic growth.

According to her, there are about 10,000 factories in Uganda, employing over one million people.

She also noted that government was attracting investors into the country to add value to the country’s natural resources including minerals to boost revenue generation.

While giving a keynote address on agri-business, Mr David Wozemba the Country Director of AGRA Uganda, said agro-industrialisation and agri-business would help increase the contribution of agricultural sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).

Mr Wozemba revealed that although the sector employs majority of Ugandans, its contribution to the country’s GDP has declined from 50 percent in the 1990s to the current 24.1 percent because majority were still locked into subsistence farming.

According to the World Bank, employment in agriculture accounted for 62.92 percent of total employment in Uganda.

Mr Wozemba said value addition and transiting Ugandan products into high value exports would enable the country tap into regional and international markets and meet the demands of changing consumer preferences.

Ms Shirley Kongai, the chairperson Policy and Advocacy Committee at Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) said sustainable industrialization is key in contributing to the 2030 Global Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals and Uganda’s Vision 2040.