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Monitor Top 100: Govt unveils incentives for local investors
Left to right: Nation Media Group-Uganda Managing Director Tony Glencross, dfcu Bank Managing Director Mathias Katamba, UIA deputy director general Paul Kyalimpa and KPMG Tax Partner Peter Kyambadde at the launch of the 2022 annual Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies Survey in Kampala on August 17, 2022. PHOTO/ STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Through UIA, government has created the domestic investment division so that companies identified as investors are helped to access government services.
The Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) has said it has created a domestic investment division charged with the duty to transform small medium enterprises (SMEs) into local investors by helping them formalise their businesses.
Speaking at the launch of the 2022 Top 100 Medium-Sized Company Survey at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala yesterday, Mr Paul Kyalimpa, the UIA deputy director general, said they restructured the SME division and created the domestic investment division so that companies identified as investors are helped to access government services.
“To be an investor, you must be registered as an individual or company. There are benefits which accrue to a registered entity when they register to pay taxes such as Corporate Tax and Pay As You Earn, and as an investor, you get an investment licence from government, which should give you some services free of charge,” he said.
Asked what incentives such entrepreneurs stand to gain by formalising their businesses, Mr Kyalimpa said after government profiling them, having their accounts audited and filing tax returns, UIA links them to 15 government agencies, including Uganda Development Bank, National Social Security Fund, National Water and Sewerage Corporation, National Environment Management Authority, among others and link them to other companies which can enable them acquire skills and expertise to participate in big businesses.
Mr Peter Kyambadde, a tax partner at audit firm KPMG, described the creation of the domestic investment division as proof of commitment by UIA to the partnership between Nation Media Group, KPMG and dfcu Bank to achieve the vision of identifying fast growing SMES and help them graduate from being medium-sized to multinational companies.
“Previously, there were concerns that domestic investors were not given specific focus but creating a division to look into that is to ensure that there is growth of investment in the country,” he said. Now in its 14th year, the annual Top 100 Medium-Sized company’s survey is a partnership between KPMG and Nation Media Group to identify and showcase business excellence and highlight some of the regional most successful entrepreneurship stories. It is a voluntary participation initiative.
To participate, the company should have an annual turnover of between Shs360m and Shs25b, with the exception of banks, insurance companies, or accounting financial consulting firms and listed companies.
Mr Tony Glencross, the managing director of Nation Media Group-Uganda, said for the last 30 years, the Monitor has been impacting society and evolving the economy. He said like other sectors of the economy which were shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the survey did not take place in 2020 and 2021 but last year, they focused on research on sustainable business models following the onset of the pandemic so that next time a similar situation recurs, businesses are found resilient.
The survey
The 2022 survey, which started yesterday, ends on October 31. Participation is open to all eligible SMEs.
