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- The first Uganda-Europe Business Forum last week has announced that the European Union plans to invest about €646 million
- According to a recent survey by EU, as of 2017, 107 European investors have invested about €427 million in Uganda
The first Uganda-Europe Business Forum which met last week in Uganda has announced that the European Union (EU) plans to invest approximately €646 million in Uganda in the next five years. The investment plan was revealed by the head of delegation of European Union to EU, Ambassador Attilio Pacific.
EU is an active investor in Uganda. According to a recent survey by EU, as of 2017, 107 European investors have invested about €427 million in Uganda. The chosen sectors of investment included agro-processing, services sector (hotels, lodges and others), the manufacturing sector etc. Ambassador Attilio Pacific emphasized the key role of the private sector in investment promotion and noted that there are several enablers that the EU needed to support their investment such as skills and attitude development, access to finance, governance and corruption. Addressing the business forum, Matia Kasaija, the minister of Finance said that the EU is one of the biggest trade partners of Uganda. In 2018, the trade accounted for €989 million of which €473 million were exports. The volume of this trade he added can be tripled if the existing bottlenecks are removed. He also applauded the European Union for its contribution to Uganda’s growth by providing grant financing in the areas of trade and investment. The Forum also witnessed the signing of three grant financing agreements worth 85.9 million Euros to support projects and programs in Uganda. The support covered budget support of 32 million euros, green economy 45 million euros and technical support of 8.9 million euros. Ambassador Pacific revealed that the Uganda-Europe Business Forum will from henceforth be held for the next five years and the EU will be providing financial assistance to the private sector to organise the same.
