All posts in Convention 2015

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Begun as an investment and development conference to encourage the Ugandan Diaspora to play a fuller role in the development of their country of origin, now in its fifth year, the Uganda Convention has grown to become a forum not only for its original aims, but, for exploring wider questions of the nature of development and policy.

This was the theme to which the Nnabagereka of Buganda Her Royal Highness Sylvia Nagginda Luswata addressed herself. Although without administrative or legislative powers since its restoration by the National Resistance Movement (NRM), following the conflict years of Idi Amin and Milton Obote, the ancient once powerful Kingdom of Buganda still retains great influence over the six million or so Baganda, or people of Buganda.

Although an embodiment of an ancient institution, the Nnabagereka is also a thoroughly modern woman who has sought to advance the role of women in today’s Uganda, by leveraging the influence that Kinganda (Bugandan) culture has always accorded to women leaders. “Ancient cultural institutions such as the kingdom of Buganda have a role to play in helping women to achieve sustainable development in Uganda.”[/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”33185,33184,33183,33182,33181,33180,33179,33178,33177,33176,33175,33174″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” autoplay=”yes” custom_links=”#E-8_aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cubm5hYmFnZXJla2Eub3JnJTJG”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]She is redefining her role to include nudging the national government to put women at the centre of development policy. As the Nnabagereka, she believes that she can play a significant role by championing women’s struggle around issues of land tenure in their own right, infant and maternal mortality, girls’ education, all gender inequalities, including employment rights. Of course since many of the traditions around land tenure developed within Buganda culture, her efforts to modernise these traditions have particular resonance.

The Nnabagereka foundation is one of the vehicles through which her efforts are channelled. Set up in 2000, the foundation according to the Nnabagereka, “aspires to be a leading cultural foundation that uses culture as a development tool in contemporary society.” Her vision for development through cultural awareness extends beyond Buganda, to other cultures in Uganda.

“We believe that the most successful programmes will be those that not only understand the nuances that exist within different cultures, but, those that integrate positive elements within cultural institutions and work, and work with cultural leaders as equal partners, recognise positive cultural contexts, and culture as a key framework that defines our choices, opportunities and abilities.”

Many of the programmes initiated by the Nnabagereka foundation draw on this belief, and include bursary schemes for primary school girls, scholarships for Secondary and higher education and sexual reproductive health workshops for both men and women.

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Arguably one of the Nnabagereka’s most significant projects is the Ekisaakaate, a traditional form of training for young people to equip them to be useful members of their society. Traditionally the Ekisaakaate was open only to young courtiers to be trained into position of leadership. The model has been modernised to include young people of both genders and from all parts of Uganda, not just from the Kingdom of Buganda.

The success of the initiative has been such that other ethnic groups in Uganda have asked to have it adapted to their culture. Accordingly as it is rolled out to other ethnic groups, care is taken to ensure that it enhances the culture of the particular ethnic group including language. According to the Nnabagereka, “as a result of training, children not only know their language but acquire leadership, entrepreneurship, etiquette, personal and spiritual development.”

The Ekisaakaate has now been extended to Ugandans in the Diaspora, and by attending the Uganda Convention in the United Kingdom the Nnabagereka honoured the Diaspora community in Britain, by launching the Ekisaakaate initiative herself.

Given the cultural diversity of most if not all African societies, the adaption of the Ekisaakaate to respect all of Uganda’s culture is arguably an example not only to Uganda, but, to other African countries in how to work within culture for sustainable development. The Nnabagereka’s approach too promises to be a pointer of how ancient African institutions can be harnessed for the continent’s self realisation in a modern, globalised world.

As certainly the largest of the major four Kingdoms in Uganda, Buganda may also be a torch bearer for other countries across Africa in how the modern state can work harmoniously with ancient institutions which though now mostly ceremonial continue to exercise great influence over many societies.

For the Nnabagereka, harmonising the new with the old for the national good is life time’s work. “I commit myself to continue to work tirelessly on these efforts for while much has been done, much more remains to be done.”

Vincent Gasana

Producer and writer[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Hon. Cecilia Ogwal, the Opposition Chief Whip, as a commercial farmer shared the importance of agriculture to Ugandans. She pointed out that 26% GDP is contributed by agriculture and 66% of the workforce in Uganda is involved in agriculture. In order for the government to reduce poverty in Uganda, more investment is needed in the agriculture sector. She appealed to Ugandans in the Diaspora to help the parliament in policy understanding because the rate of growth in the sector is still very low at just 1.5% and the share of the budget is just a mere 2.98% of the total budget which should have been 5% as prescribed by the government. She emphasized the importance of land tenure law transformation and utilizing it fully to alleviate poverty in Uganda.

She also advised investors to negotiate leasing land with land owners to make them involved and utilizing the land for future generations. It is an asset that needs to be exploited for the interest of the people of Uganda. She also added that Uganda is endowed with arable land that can be utilized to curb the unemployment of the youth.

Lord Mohammed Sheikh is a life member of the House of Lords and a businessman. Lord Sheikh was born in Kenya but grew up in Mbale-Uganda. Lord Sheikh has excelled in business and politics in the UK and was recently awarded a doctorate due to his humanitarian work. His main emphasis in the House of Lords and at the Convention was the importance of the United Kingdom building its bilateral trade with the African continent. He disclosed that Uganda is regarded and should be one of UK’s most important bilateral trade partners in the future. Uganda provides an enormous wealth of diverse economic opportunity, a growing market of more than 38 million people, estimated to increase to 47 million in the next ten years. He commended the government for the economic growth and for maintaining an average GDP growth of 6.5 in the last twenty years, not to mention that it is among the 10 fastest growing economies in Africa. Lord Sheikh adamantly believes that Uganda soon will be joining the 7% club of countries that are achieving an economic growth of 7%. He commended the President for bringing peace and stability to Uganda and the region which is the basis of investors to a country. He cited that UK should concentrate more on trade rather than aid, nevertheless aid and trade must go forward simultaneously.

He repeatedly stressed on the seriousness of corruption, a scourge that needs to be dealt with. He was happy to note that the Uganda government is firm on dealing with corruption.

It also must be noted that UK has the largest number of Ugandan Diaspora in Europe. He encouraged Diasporas to get more involved in business in Uganda while keeping their foothold and connection in the UK. He finally said that Uganda hasn’t lost its luster and that Uganda, as the pearl of Africa, is getting shinier and shinier!

Ms Doris started by giving a background of URA. In 1991, URA was set up as an agency of the Central Government for the administration and collection of specified taxes and revenues in accordance with various taxation statutes.

URA took over the revenue collection functions of the former tax departments under the Ministry of Finance. The vision was to collect revenue competitively, contractually and in a business-like manner.

In her presentation she highlighted the relationship between taxation and investment promotion which is to streamlined tax policy and administration system to facilitate investment promotion through a number of ways that range from; simplified processes relating to registration and payment of taxes, flexibility in tax laws and regulations and general availability of tax information to improve the investment climate. All these act as catalysts for boosting domestic and foreign direct investment.

Uganda is a politically stable country blessed with favourable climatic conditions, a relatively large labour force and open markets presenting a population of 145 million EAC consumers, 400 million consumers in COMESA and SADC (215million) as well as preferential access to the EU and US markets. Further significant oil reserves estimated at 3.5Billion Barrels, including 1.8Bilion that are recoverable presents great opportunity for Foreign Direct Investment. If Uganda is to reap from the existence of such abundant resources, government needs to generate sufficient revenue to facilitate investments in infrastructure in form of roads, energy and processing plants, developing the human capital based (skilled labour) and ensuring political stability. Therefore, the linkage between taxation and investment cannot be ignored.

On the current Investment Opportunities. The Government prioritized building and improving infrastructure, including energy production, lowered tariffs and trade barriers for international trade, and generally welcomes FDI.

On top of Tax incentives, Uganda offers incentives in four priority sectors: information and communication technology, tourism, value added agriculture, and value added investments in mineral extraction. Uganda is also hoping to lure additional investors with several industrial parks under development in Uganda’s largest urban centres including Jinja, Kasese, Mbarara, Mbale, Gulu and Soroti. Investors in priority sectors can get a 49year lease in an industrial park on the outskirts of Kampala without paying the usual $80,000 lease fee. The Namanve industrial park on the outskirts of Kampala has several large international companies already operating divided into four main industrial clusters: Food processing, light industry and services, heavy industry, and another for SMEs.

On tax reforms in Uganda she presented that the Government of Uganda has particularly made effort to rebuild the economy from three major fronts; fostering development of a private sector led self-sustaining economy; rehabilitating and developing the necessary economic infrastructure to facilitate investment and production and mobilizing internal resources to minimize economic overdependence (Deficit finance). These fronts are enabling Government to build a strong economy that will not only increase the levels of income but also strengthen the country’s resource base. With a strong economy it is certain that Uganda is moving towards developing an adequate and sustainable tax revenue base.

On revenue performance , the extensive impact of the URA transformation journey during the last decade have manifested through revenue collections growth and by end of Financial Year 2013/14, domestic revenues were in position to support 71.5% of the national budget that previously funded only 58.7% in FY 2004/05. This signified a growth rate of 317.5% (Ugx1.92trillion to Ugx8.03trillion) for the period 2004/5 – 2013/14. Uganda’s revenue collection growth competes at an average rate of 17.25% for the past ten (10) years against the region’s 16.46% for the period between FY 2005/06 to FY 2013/14.

On the Informal Sector & Uganda’s Tax Base. She emphasized the need for Uganda to formalize businesses. The Informal sector is estimated at 52.4% of the GDP (UBOS, 2014). In 2002 the size was 43%.

Top ranking economic sectors which are highly informal are agriculture (27%), Wholesale & Retail (24%), food processing (15%) and Manufacturing (14%). The informal sector employs more than 70% to 80% of the labour force (UBOS, 2014) while 59.8% of Ugandans are employed in the non-agriculture informal sector (ILO, 2012).

Applause: Uganda is currently funding a recurrent expenditure budget at 100% out of locally collected revenues.

Some of the achievements by the government utilizing domestically mobilized revenues has had the share of population with access to electricity, has risen from 10% in 2009 to 14% in 2013 following the completion of the 250 MW Bujagali Hydropower Project and other mini power projects.

Government is determined to provide electricity for manufacturing at 4 US cents per unit whatever the challenges. Preliminary work on the construction of the Oil Refinery near Hoima is ongoing financed by government revenues at UgShs 14.7 billion. Heavy investment in the improvement of road network using government revenue has recorded the following achievements; The proportion of national paved roads in fair to good condition increased from 74 percent in financial year 2010/11 to 80 percent in financial year 2013/14, and this is projected to improve to 85 percent in this year; and The condition of national unpaved roads in fair to good condition has increased from 64 percent to 67 percent over the same period, exceeding the NDPI target of 55 percent.

On regional integration, Uganda will benefit Ease of doing business through improved customs clearance procedures, enhancing service provision at border points by introducing a 24 hour working system; offer fast clearing services especially for large trucks and reduce time taken for the verification of documents; freedom of movement of goods by removing any border restrictions, accepting the use of one common EAC identification document and ensuring the same standards for document verification at all borders this will reduce time wastage. And harmonization of Tax Procedures of all member countries to make it easy for investors to invest in any country. Uganda is part of the East African single customs territory, thus, URA has offices in Kenya to administer and implement a single customs territory where goods are recognised and revenue is declared and collected at that point.

She appealed delegates to take advantage of incentives and exemptions that are provided in the tax laws in making investment decisions. This requires knowledge on available incentives and how you can invest in areas that can give a head start as far as tax incentives are concerned.

During his recent speech at the House of Lords, Lord Sheikh emphasized his interest to promote more business between the United Kingdom and overseas countries. He stated that this will be one of the driving forces of UK’s continued recovery. Ultimately, it will help UK to balance its budget and reduce its national debt. He also talked of his personal affinity with Africa, as he was born in Kenya and spent his formative years in Uganda.

Lord Sheikh has travelled across the continent, spoken at various meetings, met African businessmen and has first-hand knowledge of what Africa has to offer. Africa’s continent’s GDP is expected to grow by 4.5% this year and 5% next year. Furthermore, many African states have been members of the much-admired “7% club” in recent years. A number of economists have predicted that Africa could account for 7% of the global economy by 2040. Africa has a huge land area and an abundance of untapped natural resources. These include substantial reserves of oil, minerals, food and natural resources, and will undoubtedly serve much of the world’s demands in the future, he said.

Africa offers so much but, like any other economy, it has its challenges and vulnerabilities. Africa has realised these challenges and is already working hard to address them. At the moment, a conference is being held in South Africa where one of the subjects being discussed is the growth of the continent’s economy and achieving prosperity.

Recently, Lord Sheikh hosted and spoke at an event for the Economic Community of West African States, a body of 15 West African countries with a vision of collective self-sufficiency for their member states. They are creating an integrated region with mutual access to resources and investment opportunities.

Lord Sheikh also met African businessmen who are very keen to promote trade between the UK and Ghana. It is worthwhile to note that UK is accelerating its trade with Ghana, as it is a stable country with good governance. Similarly, last year, he spoke at an event for the Southern African Development Community. It is a great example of fluid multilateral co-operation to encourage economic growth. It is investing in projects aimed at improving infrastructure in the region.

At a recent dinner held by the Association for African Owned Enterprises, Lord Sheikh was awarded the lifetime achievement award for his involvement in trade with Africa. In 2014, during his speech at the Ugandan investment Convention in London, he said that UK is Uganda’s largest foreign direct investor with investment worth over 1.1billion dollars. Since UK has historical ties with Uganda, he believes that if the ties are strengthened further, it will create more business links and opportunities for the two countries.

African countries are also moving quickly to improve their investment climate and conditions for doing business. Last year, a World Bank report found that Africa comprises five of the top 10 places in the world with the most reforms making it easier to do business. The same report found that since 2005, all African countries have improved the business regulatory environment for small and medium-sized businesses. Foreign direct investment is gradually moving away from mineral resources into consumer goods and services. This is in response to the needs of a growing middle class. Manufactured goods now constitute nearly 40% of intra- African exports. These changes present an unprecedented opportunity for overseas businesses to get involved. UK must capitalise now before it is too late.

The UK’s current engagement with Africa is based too heavily on aid and long-established commodity-based businesses. Lord Sheikh says that new British companies need to enter the African market, and that the continent should be helped to grow rather than simply be supported with aid contributions. This in turn will help the UK to grow further as well.

The UK already has a natural advantage with the significant African Diaspora settled here. Businesses should look to engage with these people in seeking to connect with Africa for the first time. There is of course a young and hungry new workforce in Africa, ready for foreign investors to utilise. Indeed, it is estimated that Africa’s share of the global workforce will increase from 12% to 23% by 2050. The United Kingdom must do more to help unlock this potential. Lord Sheikh stated that as someone who has a business as well as an academic background, he would like to see more partnerships between British and African universities. UK must help to build practical vocational programmes and increase access to secondary and further education. Young Africans need to develop new skills in order to properly navigate what is a rapidly changing career landscape for them.

Lord Sheikh is a fervent supporter of trade through Commonwealth. It is in Britain’s economic interests to utilise what is essentially a ready-made trading bloc that covers a third of the world’s population. Many African countries are part of the Commonwealth, including Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria. He was pleased to note the Government’s recent enthusiasm for working with the new Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.

He advised that UK must surge ahead of the rest of Europe, and indeed the rest of the world. It is also crucial that the relevant people and bodies work together in order to maximise UK’s trade efforts. It must pool its talents as much as possible. The expertise from the Foreign Office, the Department for International Development, UK Trade & Investment and the private sector must all be combined and work in tandem to accelerate the trade activities.

The Lord further continued that UK high commissions and embassies in African countries can take an active role in notifying relevant companies in the UK of the opportunities and tenders available for bidding in the countries where they serve. Trade exhibitions and visits of delegations should be arranged to suitable African countries.

Also the embassies and high commissions of African countries should prepare details of the opportunities available in their countries and provide them to interested parties in the UK.

Africa is made up of 54 countries and each does business in a slightly different way. Local knowledge will help shape investment models that present African ventures to reflect their true commercial value. The UK will be left behind if it does not address its international trade engagement strategies with Africa. For future growth, and to see new UK companies enter the African markets, there is a need to look at individual sectors and have more of a business approach to engagement with Africa.

Particular areas that UK companies can look at are construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, minerals, IT, agriculture, the financial services sector and export of goods from the UK.

Lord Sheikh urged that the time to act is now and businesses at home must connect with the overseas markets of the future. From more overseas trade will come growth, and from growth will come prosperity and stability. UK has unique services and products which it can offer to Africa. No other continent offers such a unique mix of opportunities and challenges. Indeed, Lord Sheikh believes that the opportunities far outweigh the challenges.