Business
Manufacturing sector dominates investments in Uganda
Namanve Industrial Park Courtesy Photo
The Manufacturing sector has attracted both foreign and local investors making it the dominant lead in the last five financial years. This is contained in the 2018/19 Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) Report.
The sector attracted 148 out of the 286 projects that were distributed in the financial year. This equivalent to 51 percent compared to other sectors.
The sector attracted 141 projects in 2014/15, 135 projects in 2015/16, 214 projects in 2016/17 and 125 projects in 2017/18,
The report indicates that the sector attracted USD 1.4bn, USD 1.5bn, USD 1.6bn, USD 876.8m and USD 1.3bn respectively in financial years 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19.
Addressing journalists today at the Uganda Media centre in Kampala, Lawrence Byensi, the Acting Director of the UIA, said that this dominance is due to Uganda’s readiness to add value to its products and services.
“The investment number is growing because of government’s policy of value addition. Most of the investor who come here look at adding value. Even when the import their raw materials they still add value,” he said
He added that: “This, with a peaceful environment, has attracted investors especially in big projects like roads, electricity.”
The report also reveals that the 2018/19 foreign investments are dominant over local investments with 75.4 percent against 24.4 percent of the USD 1.3bn.
By 2018/19, China was the leading investor in Uganda with 45.1 percent planned investments worthy USD 607.3M, followed by Uganda with 24.4 percent worthy USD328M, Lebanon with 5.2 percent worthy USD 70M, India with 4.3percent worthy USD 58M and the United Arab Emirates with 4.1 percent worthy USD 55M.
Distribution of projects, according to the report, in 2018/19 was: Agriculture, Forest and Fishery (51), Community and Social Service (one), Construction (17), Electricity Gas and Water (12), Financial, Insurance and Real Estate (8), Manufacturing (148), Mining and Quarrying, Transport, Storage and Communication (25), Accommodation and others (18).
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