Uganda is a complete investment destination, Tayebwa tells UK investors

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has told investors in the United Kingdom (UK) that investing in Uganda is a sure deal for success.

According to Tayebwa, investors in Uganda are guaranteed of security and a huge return on the investment due to non-tax and tax incentives and a large market from the East African region, Africa, and access to free markets in China, Europe, and the United States.

“…it is also a get way to the rest of the continent, especially if you're prepared to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area which we believe is going to transform the African continent,” Tayebwa said at the Uganda-UK Trade and Investment Summit in London.

Tayebwa encouraged UK investors and businesses to take advantage of Uganda’s profitability by building production facilities in the country.

Themed, Unlocking Trade, Investment, and Export Potential, the UK-Uganda convention in its 13th edition seeks to promote trade and investment between Kampala and London.  

The event gathered prominent industry leaders, investors, and ministers from the UK and East Africa, to forge new business deals, invest in bankable projects, and reinforce economic relationships between the UK and Uganda, including the East African Community.

Still on Friday, Uganda's first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga used the gathering to highlight investment opportunities in the country.

“River Nile is an area you can think about working on, especially in areas of tourism and water transport. There are also other transboundary projects such as railways that we can consider partnering together to ease the movement of goods in the East African region,” she said.

At his turn, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Commissioner General John Rujoki Musinguzi explained a number of exciting tax incentives and non-tax incentives for foreign investors including access to land in the industrial parks, facilitation for infrastructure needs, and policy advocacy for a conducive environment.

“Uganda took a decision to identify and support investments, especially in nine strategic areas including education, manufacturing, tourism,  construction, health care and medical services, agriculture, ICT, logistics, and warehousing,” he said noting that “for each strategic sector, there are different tax exemptions.”

Musinguzi clarified to investors that for the customs duties, the exemptions are not just for Uganda but for the East African region.

He told investors that for strategic areas such as development of industrial parks, Value Added Tax (VAT) is exempted right from the stage of feasibility studies, design, construction, and all the materials used in setting up the industrial park.

“If you’re a foreign investor, it is assumed that for an industrial park, you will not invest less than $10 million but a Ugandan citizen in partnership with a foreign investor, then the threshold for investment reduces to only $300,000” the URA boss remarked.

“If you want to invest outside Kampala to promote the creation of jobs and industries outside the city, the investment threshold even goes down further to $150,” he added.

Labour minister Betty Amongi Ongom assured investors that Uganda has enough cheap but skilled and semi-skilled labor force to fuel their investments.