Convention 2018 – Uganda-UK Convention

18/08/2021

PROVIDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING SOLUTIONS TO UGANDANS IN THE DIASPORA

Housing Finance Bank is the leading mortgage lender in Uganda, providing housing and housing finance solutions to Ugandans for the last 50 years.

The Bank has for the last 50 years worked to fulfill its mission of providing efficient, innovative and market-led housing and financial services to all, Ugandans within and in the diaspora.

Like the famous English adage goes, “East, West, Home Is Always Best,” many of our fellow Ugandans living and working in the diaspora still remain a huge part of us. To many, the festive season presents the right opportunity to come back home in Uganda and start investment projects like land purchase, construction and other business ventures. In the quest to achieve all the above, a good number of them either hustle out completely to get a good service or meet poor quality work done because they are not on ground to do the supervision themselves while away.

Therefore, as we pride in being the only indigenous bank, we believe every Ugandan regardless of where they are is entitled to a service and we shall continue to be the bank that links you to that service back home.

The good news from Housing Finance Bank to all Ugandans living and working in the diaspora is that it is possible to invest in real estate back home with no hustle. At Housing Finance Bank, we have continuously played a catalytic role where efforts have been made to bring together all major stakeholders in the housing value-chain, from developers, financers, property managers, hardware gurus and building material experts, to the customers/end-users. Housing Finance Bank is deliberate on how to improve the housing finance sector in Uganda.

Therefore, one can be able to invest in real estate, in Uganda even while living in the diaspora through the following ways:

Utilizing the available wide range of mortgage products and solutions to meet one’s needs: Housing Finance Bank has a bouquet of mortgage products and solutions to meet a range of needs. Whether it is to purchase, construct, complete, renovate or use one’s property to unlock equity to invest elsewhere, the financing solutions are available at flexible repayment terms, attractive interest rates and maximum loan tenure of up to 20 years. Housing Finance Bank finances both residential and commercial properties like rental apartments, hostels, schools, hotels among others. This therefore can make it easy for one living in the diaspora to invest and manage their investments easily.
Access to mortgage financing that makes it possible to purchase or construct your property in record time: Housing Finance Bank is currently the leading Bank that offers up to 100% financing on mortgages. The Bank has made extra effort to provide value proposition to both the middle and low income earners thus, open avenues to affordable housing for all. One can access any of our mortgage solutions without necessarily traveling to Ugandan as long as they hold an account with Housing Finance Bank.

Access to a rich market place featuring our key partnerships with developers: Housing Finance Bank is working with different players in the market to increase the supply of affordable houses in Uganda. Once a partner is accredited by Housing Finance Bank, all that one has to do as a diaspora customer is to choose the property they are interested in, negotiate with the developer to agree on the purchase price and the Bank will pay the developer directly for one to own that property.

Furthermore, to deal with all the questions on where to find property if one is interested in buying it; one can locate the property on their own or use property agents. In addition, Housing Finance bank has a working relationship with some real estate developers and land sellers like National Housing and Construction Company, Pearl Estates, Royal Palm, Canaansites, Universal Multipurpose Construction Company, Mirembe Villas, Greentop Villas and many more who have units / land available for sale from time to time. Please visit our website at www.housingfinance.co.ug for all the above contacts.

One key question often asked is “how does one begin the application process in case they have identified a house they need to purchase?”

In response to the question above, one is required to negotiate a price with the seller, get a copy of title, photos of the property and have the initial discussion with a Housing Finance Bank official for the initial screening, to ascertain that they qualify before one commits any funds to the vendor. Once this is done, one will then be required to submit the detailed requirements to the Bank for the whole process to be concluded.

So while away in the diaspora, how does one process and submit the mortgage application, loan documents and sign the mortgage deeds?

To achieve this, one can utilize Housing Finance Bank’s available options for customers who already hold accounts with the Bank, depending on the customer’s convenience:

The customer can visit the Bank physically and fill in mortgage application forms and submit supporting documentation. After submitting the supporting documentation, they can then appoint an attorney for purposes of signing the loan/mortgage documentation on their behalf. The authority of the attorney will normally include, transacting on the account for purposes of paying vendors (in purchase cases), purchase of materials and managing constructions (in construction) cases. The power of attorney executed would determine the extent of authority depending on the circumstances of each case. Where such instructions are given, the customer does not need to visit the Bank and funds will be disbursed upon execution of documents by the attorney and completion of other related processes.

Customers who have accounts with the Bank can also fill loan/mortgage application forms from abroad and then courier the documents to the Bank along with supporting documents. In this case, the application forms would have to be witnessed by a Notary Public. At this point, customers may again appoint attorneys and the instrument of appointment would still have to be witnessed by a Notary Public. If no attorney was appointed, the customer will need to come physically to the Bank to sign the loan /mortgage documents upon approval of the facility. Note that where an attorney for this purpose was appointed, the customer may not need to visit the Bank in person. The funds will be drawn down upon execution of loan/mortgage documents by the customer or their attorney and completion of other related processes.

Finally, “What happens to one’s title once they have paid off the loan but are still out of the country?”

Once one has fully paid off their loan, the Bank will release to them a copy of their title which was submitted to the Bank, together with a release of mortgage document. The Bank may not release the above documents to third parties except where the individual owner’s authorization was given physically at any of our offices at an earlier date.

To all our Diaspora customers please come and engage with us at the 8th Uk- Ugandan Investment Convention which will take place on September 15 2018 at the London Troxy, where we shall be holding a business forum and investment expo, to ensure that we guide you through to the journey of acquiring your dream home!

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29/12/2020

Central Scotland’s First Rum Distillery to Launch Crowdfunding Campaign in Response to Demand

Following overwhelming response to the launch of Central Scotland’s first rum distillery, Matugga Distillers is launching a £30K crowdfunding campaign.

Since the opening of the distillery in October, husband and wife team – Paul and Jacine Rutasikwa – have been inundated with requests to invest; with interest coming from as far away as Japan.

Now the rum firm is responding to spirits fanatics; inviting them to back the campaign in return for a slice of Scotland’s rum history in the making.

As part of the programme, rum lovers will own one of just 1,000 limited edition bottles of the distillery’s new addition to the award-winning Matugga Rum range – Mavuno 2018.

Twelve rum connoisseurs will also be invited to lay down their own cask filled with 2018 new make rum; which will be aged for three years in the distiller’s bonded warehouse in Livingston.

Aiming to secure at least £30K, the funding will support Matugga Distillers’ ambitious expansion plans and allow the firm to accelerate production following the surge in demand for their golden and spiced rums ‘crafted with African soul’.

The funding will be split between investment in additional equipment in order to increase spirits production and taking the distillery’s growing rum portfolio to new markets.

Master Distiller, Paul Rutasikwa, said:

“We have been overwhelmed and humbled by the response to the opening of our new distillery; particularly the volume of requests to invest and enquiries about laying down rum casks.

“This is clearly testament to a growing global appreciation of artisanal spirits and a culture of consumers backing start-up drinks firms that have a unique story to tell.

“Participants in our crowdfunder will have the opportunity to own a part of Scotland’s rum history while helping to drive forward our exciting plans for the distillery and the creation of new jobs.”

(Caption: Master Distiller, Paul Rutasikwa and CEO, Jacine Rutasikwa, of Matugga Distillers, at their new rum distillery in Central Scotland)

£50 pledge: one of 1,000 bottles of Mavuno 2018
£80 pledge: one of 1,000 bottles of Mavuno 2018 and glass set
£100 pledge: one of 1,000 bottles of Mavuno 2018, glass set & indulgent rum cake made with Matugga Rum and fragrant spices
£130 pledge: one of 1,000 bottles of Mavuno 2018 alongside one 70cl bottle of Matugga Golden Rum and one 70cl bottle of Matugga Spiced Rum
£250 pledge: A case of six 70cl Matugga rums: 2 x Matugga Golden Rums, 2 x Matugga Spiced Rums and 2 x Mavuno 2018
£3,000 pledge: one 225-litre cask of Matugga rum finished in a choice of bourbon cask or Cognac cask. Aged for three years in Matugga’s bonded warehouse in Central Scotland.

To take part in the crowdfunding campaign, visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/matuggarum. The 1,000 bottles will be ready by the end of January 2019.

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18/12/2020

2018 | Welcome remarks: H.E Amb. Julius Peter Moto Uganda’s High Commissioner to the UK

H.E Amb Julius Peter Moto welcomed everybody to the 8th Annual Uganda – United Kingdom Trade and Investment Convention. He stressed that Uganda High Commission and Government of Uganda is happy to associate with Uganda UK Convention for the great works being done to promote trade and investment between the two countries. He was grateful to Mr Willy Mutenza for the unmatched organisational skills that has continued to bring top policy makers from Uganda and UK, administrators, industry experts, the academia, civil society and Ugandans in diaspora in UK annually to this coveted event.

The Convention is priceless! There is non-like it and it is my wish that it continues engaging Governments, the business sector and Ugandans in diaspora towards a common goal of contributing to industrialisation of our mother land, Uganda.

In a special way, he recognised Amb. Zaake Kibedi, Uganda’s Ambassador to the Nordic Countries; Amb. Stephen Mubiru Uganda’s Ambassador to Ankara, Turkey and Amb. James William Kinobe, Uganda’s High Commissioner in Khartoum. Also he recognised the staff at Uganda High Commission London namely Amb. John Mugerwa (Deputy High Commissioner), Mr. Godfrey Kwoba (Minister Counsellor), Ms Juliet Mugerwa (Counsellor), and others for attending this event. Thanked them for coming to support the incredible Uganda Convention in UK.

He also expressed thanks all the members of Parliament of Uganda and all the participants for taking time off their busy schedules to attend this convention.

He further said that the Government of Uganda has not relented in her policies to attract FDIs and encourage Ugandans in diaspora to invest in Uganda. Cognisant of the ever-changing environment for investment, Government has maintained its commitment to fostering an economic and legal regime that is friendly for investment. This commitment has included public investments to lower the input and transactional costs faced by the business sector in Uganda, and implementation of legal and regulatory reforms on an industrial scale.

Because of these efforts, the contribution of investment to Uganda’s economic growth and development has significantly increased over the past three decades. With major works on infrastructures underway (like Karuma Hydro Dam, Isimba Hydro Dam, Kabaale International Airport in Hoima), major oil roads and highways, and planned projects such as the (oil refinery and the associated pipe line and waste treatment plants, standard gauge railway project under the northern corridor project), transportation systems on Lake Victoria, the cost of doing business in Uganda is poised to fall. All these have been made possible as a consequence to total peace and stability country wide, a situation he foresees to continue for a long time hence providing confidence to investors.

The savings and investment rates in the economy have more than doubled over the last two decades. As a result, the annual growth rate of the economy over the last three decades has averaged over 6 percent; poverty levels in the country have more than halved since 1992; our export basket has significantly diversified; (recently in June 2018, Bank of Uganda published a huge trade surplus that Uganda enjoys over members of the EAC – A clear proof that the business climate in Uganda is conducive for business); and the average annual growth rate of employment in the formal sector during the first National Development Plan (2010/11 to 2014/15) exceeded the average annual economic growth rate for the same period. Ladies and gentlemen, we can comfortably conclude that Uganda is not only open for business but she is actually ready for business in all sectors in whatever scale. These plans are feeding into the National Vision 2040 and we shall get there with your participation!

He also revealed that Uganda Waragi is now a recognised brand imported to the UK with a tax number and thanked the importer for making the effort to have a Ugandan brand to the UK market.

Rose Twine, Founder – Eco Stove

Ambassador Moto invited Rose Twine, a Ugandan formerly lived in the Diaspora who moved back and set up a multi-million-dollar manufacturing plant dealing in eco-stove. The Eco Stove is an innovation aimed at drastically reducing indoor air Pollution (IAP), conserve the environment as it saves the end-user cooking fuel cost through the use of Solar and volcanic rocks as primary fuel. The Eco Stoves are manufactured in different sizes; single, Double, oven with cooking hobs (portable) & commercial (inbuilt for institutions: schools, hospitals, prisons and restaurants). The stove package is also customised according to the user cooking needs. Rose added. (www.ecostove.org)

He highlighted efforts of the convention have not been un-noticed. Some tangible outputs on the ground include but not limited to: –

a multimillion dollar investment in Gulu for grain value chain by the Nagrecha Brothers;
Over $4million has been invested by Jakana Heights building a modern up-market apartment in Konge Hill;
An up-market apartment project by Limes Tree Investment in Kololo;
Over $2m investment in real estate affordable and up-market apartment by a Diaspora under Eric and Winston’s project
3475 delegates had so far attended the Convention
More than 90 Ugandans relocated to Uganda and are contributing to transfer of technology and know-how,
31 companies from Uganda had showcased their services and 67 UK companies including SME by Diaspora had also exhibited at the Conventions.
Donations to the social sector such as schools and the health sector.
Over 100 business delegations to Uganda and numerous enquiries in the tourism and mining sectors of Uganda.

He urged that as UK proposes to exit the European Union in March 2019 in what is termed BREXIT, Uganda should ready itself to partake in international trade with UK and the rest of the world, in a rules-based system as enshrined in the various agreements of the World Trade Organisation. Ugandans in diaspora are particularly encouraged to provide leadership in transfer of knowhow and capital to Uganda to create new jobs and opportunities for the younger and future generations. A good number of Ugandans in diaspora are commended for partaking in FDIs to Uganda. All countries do it and Ugandans in diaspora should copy what other nations do. Get involved and be a participant in the business sector in Uganda to create wealth and expand the tax base.

The Ambassador requested them to take the advantage of Uganda being a member to the East African Community and COMESA, powerful building blocks for the ultimate integration of markets in Africa too.

He said that the UK Mission would focus mainly in attracting investors, but not limited, in the following fields:-Industrial grade sugar for the pharmaceutical industries; Starch and textiles sector; Iron and steel to support manufacturing industries; lithium mineral in Uganda; copper mines and; Tailor made (group) tourism to Uganda.

He urged them to visit the Uganda Investment Authority website: https://www.ugandainvest.go.ug, for investment guides and opportunities in Uganda.

He assured them that The Uganda High Commission, London will be open to them on all matters regarding their investments and tourism needs in Uganda.

He wished them a fruit deliberation during the convention.

See you next year on the 14th Sept at Troxy https://ukconvention2019.eventbrite.co.uk

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Eco Stove, Julius moto, Rose Twine, UCUK2018, Uganda Convention, Uganda Diaspora, uk, Willy Mutenza No Comments

12/12/2020

Lessons learned from the Uganda-UK Convention | Ade Daramy

By Ade Daramy, Writer, Broadcaster and Press Officer

Is one question I will always get asked at least one question: “You’re not a Ugandan, and yet, you are here every year, why is that?”.

Ove the years, my answers have changed, as the convention itself has changed. However, at the root of it all, the answers are ‘the same but different’. There have been increasing elements of positivity that I take from each event.

So, you ask, what have I learned?

Fundamentally, I have taken away the lesson that a patriot is one who always has their country’s best interests at heart.

Love of country transcends party affiliations. It is therefore pleasing for me to see that the realisation finally seems to be sinking in, that this convention is not a tool of government but an independent, stand-alone effort; designed by patriotic Ugandans to highlight and showcase trade and investment opportunities in their country. If the country prospers, all will benefit, regardless of party or tribal affiliations.

Those who have assumed, in the past that the event was either run or controlled by government, have now had their eyes opened to the truth. My one criticism of such folks would be; if you do not know, ask, do not assume.

The biggest lesson for me and for other Africans is that an event of this scale and ambition can succeed while being run and organised by Diasporans; no other African nationals are doing what Ugandans have been doing for the last eight years and that is something to be proud of. This is something nationals of almost every country based in the UK have thought about; Ugandans, have not waited ‘for when the time is right’, they have done it and showed, you can always claim the time is ‘not right’ and it will never be; you have to make it right!

Mr Willy Mutenza and his dedicated team – in which I play a very minor part – are to be commended for their efforts over the years and, for establishing this event as a must-attend in the annual calendar.

As well as attending, I urge other Africans to attend, which is why this year, I was glad to see in attendance, friends from Sierra Leone, Angola, Tanzania, Kenya, Gambia, Rwanda and other countries. We can all learn from this initiative. We have long realised that ‘trade not aid’ is what holds the key to our continent’s development and progress. It is therefore gratifying to see, each year, almost every sector of business represented.

Earlier on, I mentioned about the changing nature of the convention. Let’s take an example from this year’s event; we had the session ‘Hard Talk’. This gave members of the audience the audience the opportunity to ask the sorts of tough questions they may have felt previously unable to ask or that the programme did not accommodate.

I give credit to the panellists for being on stage to take the questions and, for the most part, not attempting to do that thing that has most discredited politicians: not giving a straight answer to a straight question. This time, the questions were met head on and, in the main, responded to.

Given the recent political events in Uganda, it was impossible to avoid the ‘Bobi Wine factor’ – Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.

We do not need to rehash here, the details as they are known to every Ugandan and friend of Uganda.

What I particularly liked about the ‘Hard Talk’ segment, was that it allowed our politicians not to equate questioning or criticism with ‘insults’ or ‘disrespect’. Members of Parliament and supposed to be servants of those who elect them and yet this is rarely the case in Africa.

This brings me to a point I made at the end of the ‘Hard Talk’ session, in response to a comment by a panellist that “…burning the flag is a criminal offence…”. My comment was that this should not be seen as such in any mature democracy but as yet another form of legitimate protest. Corruption is a far more pernicious evil in Africa and a much more serious criminal offence; we should repeal these archaic laws; they have no place in our legal systems.

Let me end on a positive note: if you have not attended the convention in the past, please make sure you do so in the future. Not only that, if you go to the convention’s website: https://www.ugandanconventionuk.org/ – there, you can read reports from the previous conventions and book to attend next year’s.

I hope anyone reading this now gets at least a small idea of why I ‘attend every year’.

See you next September!

Ade Daramy

See you next year on the 14th Sept at Troxy https://ukconvention2019.eventbrite.co.uk

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07/12/2020

2018 UK Convention: Investment Opportunities in Real Estate

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN CONSTRUCTION, INFRASTRUCTURE AND REAL ESTATE

Panel discussion: 3-4 industry lead speakers from UK and Uganda

HOUSING: Understanding market demand, and addressing the disconnection between the price of formal, developer-built housing and what the general population can afford. Can the market shift its emphasis to meet the needs of the majority?
REAL ESTATE FINANCING: A review of innovative funding products, capital structures and what collaborative efforts need to be implemented for local construction and mortgage financing to flourish.
OPPORTUNITIES: What are the key investment opportunities within the local property market?
DEMYSTIFYING: Obstacles to Ugandan real estate investment; including local land rights, tax regime and legal frameworks.
DISRUPTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING MARKET: The affordable housing sector in Uganda is going through interesting times with new affordable property entrants disrupting the market with affordable properties. The surge is boosted by easy access to mortgages from leading banks like Housing Finance Bank. What is the current state of affordable housing? What is the level of shortage in the country, challenges & successes: The Uganda Experience”?
FINANCING: What are the current sources of funds and what are the plans/initiatives to make housing credit more affordable, what are the alternative financing solutions?
REGULATIONS: What is the current policy and regulatory framework on condo-mailo and lease titles?
What is KYAPA MUNGALO land tenure, and is the land title bankable?
What is the reality of Uganda’s investment climate on the Ground considering the political climate as portrayed by the media? (Eric)

Moderated by: Edwin Musiime, Executive Producer, NTV Property Show

Panellists:

Amongi Betty Ongom (MP), Minister of Lands and Urban Development
Stuart Mwesigwa, Bus. Dev. Manager, Roofings Group
Mathias Katamba, Managing Director, Housing Finance Bank
Eric Olanya, Head of Trade, DIT, British High Commission
Ibrahim Bogere, Chairman KPG (U) ltd
Henry Martin Saka, Commissioner Domestic Taxes, Uganda Revenue Authority
Bashir Kizito, Buganda Land Board

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14/11/2020

CLIMATE – SMART AGRICULTURE, A NEW GOLD INDUSTRY FOR BANANA FARMERS TO PRODUCE ORGANIC HAIR.

ABITC, NARO, and Bio Jigsaw Ltd has formed a Consortium to help banana farmers venture into organic hair production

NAIROBI, Kenya/ ABITC, (www.abitc.org), NARO, (www.naro.go.ug), has formed a Consortium with Bio Jigsaw Limited, www.biojigsaw.com), to help banana farmers add value to their product through organic hair production.

Banana as considered to be added on Agricultural food Value Chains (VCs), should well gaining importance as part of broader efforts to achieve food security and improve nutrition, as well as transforming agriculture in Africa and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With an increased focus on inputs, markets, financing, agribusiness, and agro-industry, the prospects of commercialization for smallholder farmers will likely expand and involve all major staple foods, including bananas.

Bio Jigsaw Limited, the Technical arm of the Consortium, has been researching into what bio products can add value to farming and practices that not only protect environmental health, but also strive to improve it.

It found out that Banana fiber can be used to produce various by-products such as the organic hair extensions, paper, as well as home textile items due to its characteristics, and at the same time, the environment is protected.

We tested the strength of the Banana fiber if used to make organic hair

extensions and replace the Synthetic Hair Extensions. The test proved very promising and it has excellent potential for export to many countries which are well known for producing Synthetic Hair.

As the marketplace changes and with increased competition and a shift in consumer tastes, introducing Organic Hair products will compete well with both Synthetic, and Natural Hair.

The shift from Synthetic Hair to Organic hair is referred to as the natural hair movement. It is the source of many of the potentially major changes that is likely to occur in the hair extension industry and market worldwide.

Demand for Organic hair extension and wigs made from Banana Fiber has increased in the tested market of Uganda, in the African Communities in Europe, and is likely to grow steadily with increasing demand for hair extensions worldwide.

Organic Hair enables flexibility in terms of styling, washing, treating, coloring and is bio-degradable.

Banana fiber is natural with high strength which can be treated well to get any organic hair length, or to produce fabric and textiles.

Banana Fiber also finds use in high quality security or currency paper, packaging cloth for agriculture produce, ships towing ropes and wet drilling cables.

The banana plant has long been a source of fiber for high quality textiles. In Japan, banana cultivation for clothing and house hold use dates back to at least the 13th century.

The use of Banana fiber for organic hair is a new concept for Uganda and the world at large.

Uganda has several banana species and at least 10 of them have been

tested and the results were very positive. We have designed a local banana fiber extraction method to help in the production line, cleaning, grading and converting it up to the finished readymade organic hair as one of the ways of introducing a new Rural Sustainable Economic Development Project.

Presently, waste banana stems pose problems of disposal to the large-scale farmers and are a waste product from the banana harvest available almost free of cost in Uganda.

However, the use of Organic Hair made from Banana fiber in commercial production is still to gear up to be able to meet the cosumer demands. It is currently done as a cottage business in our residence in Buziga, in Kampala District.

Banana fiber offers excellent potential in terms of its eco-friendly nature and properties as

compared to other natural and man-made synthetic fibers.

ABOUT ABITC

Africa Business in the Community (ABITC) is a non-profit organization, registered and operating in Uganda. It is a Social Enterprise & National Alliance of community development associations which has been working with and for the people of Uganda since its inception 2015.

It operates on principles of European Union & UN Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. Its objective is to create conditions for sustainable development.

ABITC believes that when individuals make simple changes in their behavior, they drive large-scale changes that benefit people and the planet.

This translates into reduced carbon emissions, stronger businesses, healthier communities and a sustainable future for all.

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ABOUT BIO JIGSAW LIMITED

Biojigsaw Ltd, incorporated in Uganda under the Companies Act (October 2011), is a private company dedicated to the development of all kinds of Bio products and great Innovative technologies to enhance the agribusiness by-products including Fiber Extraction from Banana, Bio-cementation, Assortment Energy Products and Extraction of Biofuels from different types of seeds.

They work with many organizations to ensure that Uganda benefits in many more other Bio products as research goes on.

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31/10/2020

THE IMPORTANCE AND RELEVANCE OF FRUGAL INNOVATION IN UGANDA

[quote]By Dr Winfred I. Onyas[/quote], Lecturer in Marketing School of Business, University of Leicester

Exploring the nature and prospects of frugal innovation in Uganda and what are the opportunities that exist to foster frugal innovations in Uganda.

Dr Winfred Onyas, Lecturer in Marketing School of Business, University of Leicester

Dr Onyas began by introducing a project she is working on in Uganda: “Exploring the nature and prospects of frugal innovation in Uganda” (2016-2019), funded by the British Academy international Partnership & Mobility Scheme.

The project is a collaboration between the University of Leicester (UOL) & Makerere University Business School (MUBS). It entails capacity building at MUBS and the project team has conducted two qualitative research workshops at MUBS. A final workshop academic writing is in plan for next year.

The project team identified a need at MUBS, that staff mostly conduct quantitative research and there is a need to develop capacity in qualitative research and academic writing. The team is also mentoring 8 early career academic staff at MUBS who have, from the start of the project, participated in the data collection and in co-authoring conference papers, which they are working towards publishing in reputable academic journals.

Dr Onyas then introduced the notion of frugal innovation, as a process that creates solutions, products and services that are: appropriate, adaptable, affordable, accessible (Basu, Banerjee & Sweeny, 2013)

It doesn’t require too much investment to create frugal innovations (products/ services). Dr Onyas appreciated earlier presentations on the day which highlighted efforts to provide frugal solutions to Ugandans i.e. affordable housing and eco-stoves, which both are affordable products.

She highlighted that, what drives frugal innovation is what people need as opposed to what is nice to have. Frugal innovations mainly focus on the functionality of something.

She cited 3 examples of frugal innovation. 1) India has been the pioneer of research into frugal innovation. The Embrace Incubator used in warming premature babies cost $25 compared to $25,000 normal incubators. This product can be recharged easily in boiling water and is cheap to transport, as the product is portable. 2) The affordable and accessible bloodless malaria test invented by Ugandan graduates is helping to fight against the epidemic. 3) The Sparky Dryer, an affordable and cost effective food dehydrator runs on biofuel and helps farmers avoid food waste.

Dr Onyas further highlighted that frugal solutions meet the needs of populations at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) who survive on less than $2 a day. Proponents of the BOP research identified the 4 billion people at the BOP as a target market for MNCs to tap into. She cited statistics showing that in 2002 Africa had the highest number of people surviving on less than less than $1.9 a day.

The BOP, Dr. Onyas added, provides a backdrop to her research on frugal innovation, positing that this tier of population should not simply be considered as consumers, but as also constituting Small and Micro Enterprises capable of creating frugal innovations.

She then went on to explain that their project team has researched on 12 case studies in five categories: community-related, efficiency-driven, health-related, renewable energy, and value addition in agri-business.

She focused on a particular HIV Community Based Organisation (CBO) that produces and sells ARV artefacts and publicises the message in an effort to intensify HIV prevention and treatment. The CBO encourages the youth to accept their HIV status and urges them to be responsible and take their daily ARVs. This is an example of frugal innovation where a community is addressing a social health problem by using innovative means to address it with innovative products.

She further stated that the constraints and challenges of frugal innovation include:

Access to finance
Capabilities/ skills-set
Information and Knowledge
Institutional voids
Market demand

She outlined some gains from Frugal Innovation as follows:

Local solutions to local challenges local and international environments are translated to local solutions
Appropriate, affordable and accessible products/ services/ solutions
Economic growth – employment, innovations
Gains to society, communities, environment

She cited a quote by Jeffrey Preston Bezos, CEO Amazon “I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.”

As a way forward for Uganda, Dr Onyas recommended the following:

Mechanisms to support the scalability of frugal innovations
Develop frugal innovation ecosystems
Supportive infrastructure
Government policy geared towards supporting innovation
Institutional support
Protecting property rights
Institutional partnerships; academia, government, donors, associations

w.onyas@leicester.ac.uk

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22/10/2020

Message from Vice Chairman, Uganda-UK Convention – Bernard R. Magulu

By Bernard R. Magulu, Executive Director, Bank of Africa (Uganda), (Vice Chairman, Uganda Convention UK)

“Uganda the Land of Opportunities, Landlocked but Road Linked” the 360% Geographical Orientation for Investors providing Gateway to East African Markets.

I am happy to share about the annual Uganda Convention- UK convention 2018 took place on 15th September 2018 edging 8 years since the creation of the Investment and Trade Forum. In my capacity and as one of the organisers, I am pleased to radiate the objective of which we hinge the Convention. Tracing history, the principle objective of the Convention was in response to bridging the challenges that confronted Ugandans at home and the diaspora community, among others.
The key mantra is that Uganda is ready for Business, and the call for Investors takes advantage of the market dynamics and contribute to the economy by taking and entrenching the Convention.

Over the years, I have and continue to witness positive and impactful discourse at the Convention by engaging and attracting continued presence of top policy makers from Uganda and the UK, Seniors Executives, Administrators, diverse Industry professionals, the academia, Civil Society practitioners, and Entrepreneurs. This treads create and offer influential development trends and priceless opportunities to the Business leaders, industry captains, government officials, representatives from prominent organisations based in Uganda, the UK and Continental Europe, who together converge at the annual event.

Our aspiration is to continue to drive the agenda of the Convention by ensuring that key topical issues such as Infrastructure, Power and Energy, Agri-business, Real Estate, Financial Markets Development, Manufacturing and SME business development continue to remain part of the programs, thus attracting investors of diverse scale.

As part of our central focus as the Convention, investors, including Ugandans in the Diaspora have a great opportunity to navigate with; Government consultations, Networking and Information sharing and finally the Convention culminates into a spectacular after part for unwinding for the evening.

I am happy to adduce that the Convention has annually contributed to the increase of Uganda’s exports in the region, introducing products to the international market in the European Union as well as COMESA. One of our key success is that the forum continues to create a platform that promotes and facilitate access to trade opportunities in Uganda (East Africa) for Ugandans and European (UK) investors, including one-to-one meetings.

In my view, the Convention has recorded milestones and exceeded its objectives in the years since its establishment in 2010. Whilst the foundation for the initiative was premised on the reflection of the pursuit to contribute positively to our country’s economy by showcasing Uganda as “the Land of Opportunities, Landlocked but Road Linked” the 360% Geographical orientation surrounding providing Gateway to East African Markets.

The Convention has initiated an extra engagement as part of the Convention’s activities, where, members of the Uganda government, private sector attend the House of Lords, hosted by one of the Ugandan Asian Lords to discuss among others: the importance of increasing investment, partnership and trade between UK and Uganda rather than aid and charity; forge a partnership with Ugandans in the House of Lords and parliament to improve on UK-Uganda relations in areas such as trade, upholding democratic principles and political cooperation and exploring how to further strengthen these relations; and Foster stronger links with Ugandan politicians and work with Uganda parliamentarians to keep UK MPs and business leaders in the UK updated on events in Uganda, this will mitigate passive information from the media which most of the time are negative.

I am very confident and proud of the Convention’s contribution towards Uganda’s National and inter-regional cooperative links in various ways not to mention seeking investors in all areas. In terms of outlook, the need for leveraging the diaspora latent skills potential with a direction for search of continuous synergy between Uganda and the UK Government remains an areas of great and immeasurable potential.

With the direct and indirect achievements so far recorded, I am specifically grateful for the effort and energy of our Founder/Chairman; Mr. Willy Mutenza for his resourcefulness, impeccable demeanour and superior dialoguing and for continuing to believe in the vision of the Convention. The Chairman deserves commendation for his selfless devotion, commitment and love for our motherland Uganda. As organisers we are honoured and appreciate the support from each and every one who has continued to support the Uganda

I look forward to seeing you at the next Convention planned for 14th September 2019.

For God and My Country,

Bernard R. Magulu
Executive Director, Bank of Africa (Uganda), (Vice Chairman, Uganda Convention UK)

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21/10/2020

Outlining the UK’s export growth strategy – Lord Dolar Popat

PRESENTATION: UK TRADE AND FDI – Outlining the UK’s export growth strategy

By Lord Dolar Popat, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda and Rwanda

How can investment by the United Kingdom help improve skills in Uganda and what are the long term benefits? What are the major constraints in terms of local skills UK companies have faced, and how have they overcome them?
What would UK companies like to see from both Uganda Government and the UK investors to improve local skills? Are there examples of successful government & private sector partnerships in terms of developing skills?
How can Diaspora SME’s tap into Trade and export financial products?
How has UK government helped to fight endemic corruption in Uganda?

Lord Dolar Popat started by acknowledging the presence of Hon. Amongi Betty Ongom (MP) Minister of Lands, Housing & Urban Development, H.E Amb. Julius Peter Moto , Uganda’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland; the Members of Parliament and distinguished guests.

As a regular speaker, he expressed gratitude to be invited again to address the convention and noted that the Convention was growing from strength to strength year after and thanked specially the founder Willy Mutenza and his team for putting up such a successful event.

He has been a trade envoy since 2015, a job he is privileged to serve for three main reasons;

Love for east Africa, particularly Uganda the country he was born in;

The scale of economic potential for that is now Uganda and in the future, citing the presentation of the High Commission on the transformation taking place in Uganda and the economic growth it continues to achieve in recent years
He noted that it is in Uganda’s interest to work with the British parliament with its high standard and integrity to help Uganda build a better future.
He noted he is frequenting to Uganda taking trade missions and that he gave up a ministerial job to do this job as a trade envoy and reports directly to the Prime Minister.

Britain is taking a significant challenge of the 21st century leaving the European Union because as a country it needs to be more out looking for opportunities rather than being in a union of twenty-seven nations which made Britain more Insular in the last forty years. Britain needs to look out at its commonwealth connections and also becoming more global; hence, this is why trade envoys positions were created.

Britain is now facing a lot of challenges where it doesn’t have enough exports to pay for its imports and now, looking for more exports oriented countries and more global and also looking for more investments in Africa, Britain’s trade to Africa not long ago was about 30% and now it is less than 4% and this is one of the reasons Britain is leaving EU to become more global. Britain wishes also to see more SMEs which are the engine of Britain’s economy do more export, now only 10% of SMEs export compared to 30% in Germany.

Britain’s Prime Minister’s recent visit to Africa called for stronger partnership between UK and African and pledged over £billion investments to Africa of which Uganda is one of the fastest growing.

Further, he said that Britain needs to see Africa for what it is not for what Britain feels it is. Africa is a continent that has undergone incredible transformation with some of the fast growing economies in the world, a young urbanised population, greatest stability, growing democracy, less corruption and it is a home of the World’s natural resources and it is a new Africa, the next frontier when it comes to trade and investment, he said. Britain and European has been seeing Africa with a bended lens and now it needs to pay more attention, a continent that needs help, poor, with dictators, corrupt, that needs help from Britain to survive. It is no longer the case, Africa does not have a single dictator now, yes, Africa has challenges but it is still a young democracy, 60 years younger compared to Britain with over 800 years of democracy and is going through major constitution challenges itself. Democracy needs to be given a chance to mature and with time things will get better and better for Africa.

Major UK PLC needs to be sold the idea to go to Africa and invest money to get good returns also encourage British exporters to export more on behalf of UK companies and it is the role of the trade envoys to persuade these British Companies to go to Uganda, a country with huge potential.

In November 2017, Lord Popat led a trade mission to Uganda with a trade delegation representing oil and gas sector, two of the companies represented are now waiting for a decision of which one of them will build part of the oil infrastructure with a contract worth over $2 billion, another company has been awarded the engineering of the longest heated pipeline in the whole world.

Also Colas Ltd is building the Kabaale, Hoima international airport with a $270 worth of a contract, the largest single loan to an African government loaned by export finance and this is to show the confidence which Britain has for Uganda. One of the greatest advantage for trading with Britain is the growing of the local content, not only growing the economy but also to up skilling the work force with a win-win approach is unique and it sets the UK apart from the competitor, UK wants to see more 80% of Uganda local content, building capacity and create jobs for the local companies.

There is a need for equally political will from both Uganda and United Kingdom and commended the new Uganda High commissioner Julius Motto as a commercial minded and working with the UK government making it happens.

Uganda still is hampered by challenges and is ranking poorly at under 130 in the ease of doing business index out of 180 countries. Uganda has improved over the recent years but it still needs to carry out a major reform for Uganda to get even get better.

He appreciated the presence of the Minister of Lands Hon Amongin as land is an important issue for people to build factories and business premises.

With regards to support that can be given to Uganda, Lord Popat, said that the UK High Commissioner in Uganda led by Peter West is one of the most commercially minded diplomats post and now work in Uganda, the new created department of international trade is dedicated to increasing trade presence around the world. The rule is to drive the UK government desire to increasing trade and exporting globally.

He introduced the Head of Department for International Trade at the British High in Kampala Eric Olanya (E-mail: eric.olanya@mobile.trade.gov.uk). That department for international trade help UK companies:

Conduct market research, programme arrangements contacts for companies Etc., this is chargeable service which requires commitment at a subscribed government rate.
Lobbying and support with the trade envoy by Lord Popat engaging the business fraternity in Uganda, meeting senior government officials including the president.
Help to navigate through UK export finance which is under the department for international trade and identify areas that needs direct lending opportunities, insurance guarantees or any other support. The moto for the department “no deal should fail for lack of finance”.
Arrange events for companies’ trade mission in October and November focused on oil and gas.

In the past Britain gave aid to Uganda and now the UK government is saying, Uganda does not need aid, Uganda needs trade to create jobs, raising the living standards of Ugandans. He cited the East Africa trade market which has built a £800m Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway which has reduced the freight of goods from Mombasa to various East African destinations and that was aid money but it was UK aid finance, it was built by a Germany company but UK had to comply to EU regulations which will be a different thing after BREXIT.

Finally, he is happy that the UK export finance to Uganda has now been increased from £50 to £600 million and now working with the Uganda High Commissioner in the UK and Eric Olanya Head of Department for International Trade at the British High in Kampala are working to increase it to £1 billion.

Finally, Lord Popat ended by saying that, for both countries, had reached an important crossroads. Choices – and improvements – had to be made on both sides. But he hoped everyone in the room could agree on, that both countries should be partners on the road ahead as they shared a tremendous history, and a lot of affection for each other’s countries; there both good for one another. But both countries should not simply rely on good will; but had to also take the necessary steps to help each other in the months and years ahead. He hoped that his speech had helped to outline what he thought was needed to make that a reality.

He thanked the people for listening, and hoped that they would have a fantastic and profitable day.

Lord Dolar Popat is British Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda and Rwanda

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20/10/2020

Hon. Amongi Betty Ongom (MP), Minister of Lands on policies, legal frame work…

The Minister gave an overview of the housing sector in Uganda. She appreciated the fact that this year’s convention attracted a number of development companies from Uganda including Jakana heights, Roofings Ltd Uganda, Comfort Homes, KPG Property management, Fakhruddin, Southgate Properties, Ssanga Courts, SMW Construction, Buganda Land Board, Universal M. Enterprises and Eric and Winston’s Estates. These companies have displayed a number of products in affordable to high-end developments in Uganda with many positive enterprises in the housing sector.

The Minister’s role, she said is to ensure policies, legal frame work and regulations that support the housing and real estate sector.

The Minister highlighted that in the last few years, Uganda’s economy had improved and is continuously improving. Experts believed that the country’s economy has great potential as it has several major resources like mineral deposits, lots of natural resources, fertile land and regular rainfall. A number of natural resources and manmade attractions make Uganda the greenest and most scenic of all the African countries; the country has lots of friendly people too. There are lots of quality medical facilities, first class hotels and restaurants, resorts and beaches and entertainment facilities can be found here. With these, the country will experience rapid economic growth and development. Uganda is the most entrepreneurial country in the world according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, she added.

She assured delegates that in Uganda, Land of any tenure system offers a secure investment option. As it exists as a physical product, unlike some stocks and shares, a chunk or a plot of land can never be completely useless. Land offers an investment option with a low rate of costs, along with greater options over real estate and off-plan investing, providing a safe and sound investment, regardless of any changes to your financial state.

Investing in Uganda’s real estate industry needs a determined mind, capital as well as a visionary planner. To invest in property in Uganda, you may decide to buy a house, an apartment, a commercial building, warehouses as well as land for any purpose.

She outlined some Real Estates Business Opportunities which included 6 major niches within the Real Estates Business, we can have classified them as follows:

Niche #1: Real Estate Brokerage – A fee charged by the mediator who facilitates a real estate transaction between the two parties
Niche #2: Land Real Estate Development– You buy land and improve it by adding services and utilities including Roads, Electricity, and Water. You then divide up the land into smaller planned plots and sell them out for a profit.
Niche #3: Condominium Uganda Real Estates Development– You construct a Building, divide it into different units, then you sell out the units.
Niche #4: Commercial Real Estate Development– You construct a building and Let out each of the units at a monthly fee.
Niche #5: Real Estate Management– You Manage a property owned by someone else.
Niche #6: Uganda Real Estates Appraisal– You offer Professional Real Estate valuation services

The Minister also highlighted Land Ownership and Legal framework for investing in Real.

Types of Land Ownership

Customary Land: Under this tenure, land is communally owned by a particular group of people in a particular area. Its utilization is usually controlled by elders, clan heads or a group in its own well-defined administrative structures.

In the Uganda Real Estate industry, this land tenure is usually in the North, Eastern, North east, North West and some parts of Western Uganda. Over 70% of land in Uganda is held on customary tenure system.

In such cases, people own their land, have their rights to it, but don’t have land titles. Some tenants on such land allocate specific areas to themselves with known and defined boundaries usually marked by ridges, trenches, and trees. However, one can buy, survey and title it as a freehold.

Mailo Land: Land held under mailo tenure system is mainly in Buganda (Central region) and some parts of Western Uganda.

The system confers freehold granted by the colonial government in exchange for political co-operation under the 1900 Buganda Agreement and other related agreements with other kingdoms.

Essentially feudal in character, the mailo tenure system recognizes occupancy by tenants, a.k.a bibanja holders, whose relationship with their landlords is governed and guided by the provisions of the 1998 Land Act.

Mailo land, like freehold is registered under the Registration of Titles Act. All transactions must therefore be entered in a register guaranteed by the state.

Under this tenure, the holder of a mailo land title has absolute ownership of that land. One only loses such ownership when such land is needed for national interests but still compensations have to be done for relocation.

Freehold Land: It’s a system of owning land in perpetuity and was set up by an agreement between the Kingdoms and the British Government. Grants of land in freehold were made by the Crown and later by the Uganda Land Commission.

The grantee of land in freehold was and is entitled to a certificate of title. Most of this land was issued to church missionaries and academic Institutions and a few individuals.

Freehold is the premier mode of private land ownership under English law. The Land Act recognizes it as one of the four regimes through which access to land rights may be obtained.

Its incidents are defined to include registration of title in perpetuity and conferment of full powers of ownership that is the power of use and disposition.

Real Estate Transactions involving freehold land are governed by the Registration of Titles Act. Little land is held under freehold tenure in Uganda.

Leasehold Land: This is a system of owning land for a particular period of time. In Uganda you can get a lease from an individual, local authority or government for a period usually 49 or 99 years with agreed terms and conditions.

The leasehold Real Estate transactions, being essentially contractual allow parties to define the terms and conditions of access in such a manner that suits their reciprocal land use needs.

A grant of land would be made by the owner of freehold, customary or Mailo or by the Crown or Uganda Land Commission to another person for an agreed period of time. The grantee of a lease for an agreed time is entitled to a certificate of title issued by government.

Public Land: Under this type of land tenure, the government owns land and has the right to lease it to any company or individual on specific terms and covenants.

The underlying principle is that Land in Uganda belongs to Ugandan citizens.

Therefore, if you are not a Ugandan citizen, you can only acquire Leasehold interest in Uganda Land.

On Land Real Estate Owners and Tenants, Hon Amongi cautioned delegates that before they purchased Land, they needed to find out the occupancy status of the tenants on that land. This is a critical due diligence step in their land real estate transaction because it contributes to the valuation of the land one intended to buy.

The obvious buying trend is that a plot of land with many tenants should cost less than a similar land with fewer tenants. The status of occupancy becomes of great importance when one wants to utilize the plot of land and yet one has to compensate the tenants first as provided in the law. Land which is occupied by many tenants protected by law is likely to cost more in terms of compensation to the tenants than a similar plot of land with unprotected tenants. A tenant by occupancy means a lawful or bonafide occupant according to the land act.

The Minister clarified who is a Bonafide Occupant in Uganda Real Estate Transactions, and further added that a bonafide occupant is a person:

Who occupied land before the 1995 Land Act
Has occupied and utilized land un-challenged by the registered owner for 12 years prior to the 1995 Constitution
Has before 1995 been settled on the Land by the Uganda Government.

Who is a lawful Occupant in Uganda Real Estate Transactions?
A person who entered land with consent of the owner
A purchaser of land from the owner
A customary tenant who was not compensated at the time of leasing out the land.
A person occupying land by virtue of the Toro and Ankole landlord and tenant law, and Busuulu and Envujjo Buganda Laws.

The Minister explained that, if one occupied land on the basis of a license by the owner, one is not a lawful or bonafide occupant. She Further added, if one acquires interest from a bonafide occupant, one become a bonafide occupant.

Hon Betty was happy to enlighten more on other legal framework governing Real Estate Developments:

The Condominium Law
Under the Condominium Property Act of 2012, a real estate development company can build apartments and sell them as is and give the buyer a title deed for his/her property the same way one would sale a stand-alone house on a plot of land.

Maintenance costs (incorporating rates, facilities. maintenance, security, landscaping etc.) represent a significant tranche of the gross income in the management of apartment blocks. The Condominium Act provides for tenants of similar schemes to form Housing Associations for the management of these schemes. However, this is yet to be implemented effectively.

Landlord and tenant Bill:
The bill, intended to regulate the relationship between landlords and tenants, is before Parliament for amendment.

Income Tax Act 2018:
Interest on a mortgage for the construction or purchase of rental properties will now be an allowable deduction for rental income earned by an individual. Given that interest on mortgages was already an allowable expense for companies, this amendment is aimed at bringing consistency within the tax law as well as incentivize individuals to promote the mortgage market.

Property Tax
It is a tax on all immovable property or buildings, commercially managed like schools, rented houses, rented shops, factories, Hotels, Private and Public Universities and any part of which is used for the purpose of business even if it is owner occupied.

According to the Local Government (Rating) Act 2005 as amended, the Local Government (Rating) regulation 2006 and KCCA Act 2010, every property owner is required to pay 6 % of the money they collect from commercial buildings after deducting allowable expenses such as water, electricity and wages.

The Minister further advised on opportunities in the residential sector.

According to the Uganda National Housing Policy and UBOS, there are 7.3 million households in the country living in 6.2m housing units with an average household size of 4.7 persons. The estimated annual need for new housing is 200,000 units. Of these 135,000 and 65,000 units are in rural and urban areas respectively.

In Uganda, private developers primarily target the high end housing segment since it fetches a premium over the mid income housing. This has led to an oversupply in the high income segment particularly in Nakasero, Kololo, Naguru and Bugolobi.

On the other hand, housing for the mid income segment is insufficient compared to the upsurge in demand.

To date, there are very few affordable housing projects that have been constructed on large scale, specifically targeting middle and lower middle income earners, i.e. those earning between UGX 0.5 million to UGX 1.5 million monthly.

On the case for Affordable Housing she added that according to the Uganda National Housing Policy, affordable housing is defined as that housing for which the associated financial costs are at a level that does not threaten other basic needs and represents a reasonable proportion of a households’ overall income.

According to a November 2017 report released by Center for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF), property developers in Uganda were only able to reduce the annual housing requirement by about 1,000 units, in the period 2014 to 2016. In 2017, the forecasts suggested a grim picture of only 770 units to be delivered, maintaining the annual housing requirement at above 200,000, of which 135,000 are in rural areas and 65,000 in urban areas.

According to Knight Frank research, 60% of the above housing deficit is for low income earners, 37% for middle-income and only 3% for high end market.

Figure 1: Output vs Annual housing requirement in Kampala

Hence based on the above rate, it is certain that the country’s annual housing requirement will continue to prevail and yet the population is growing at an annual rate of 3.3 %.

On Market Trends and Relative Prices Hon Amongi stated that Knight Frank has recorded a 9% increase in demand for residential property for rent in the secondary residential suburbs of greater Kampala particularly Kira, Najjera, Kyanja, Namugongo, Naalya and Seeta during the first six months of 2018. This is on the back of an increase in stock of newly constructed residential properties, (apartment blocks in particular) in the middle income segment, ranging between UGX 100 million – UGX 200 million and UGX 400,000 –UGX 800,000 per month for selling and renting respectively.

It is also interesting to note that approximately 80% of the new stock of apartment blocks available on the market in Naalya, Kira, Najjera, Namugongo and Kyanja were sold during the first half of 2018.

She added that, these secondary suburbs were becoming increasingly popular for middle income home owners. Land tenure in these suburbs also tends to be “Private Mailo” which is considered an advantage for many home buyers who believe mailo tenure is in perpetuity, and is generally considered a “safer” tenure to have, as opposed to a leasehold title. Apartments were attracting higher demand than standalone houses as they were perceived to be more secure, and relatively cheaper as a result of shared costs for common areas and facilities like garbage collection, common area lighting and security. Primary research reveals the following market prices for affordable income housing in the greater Kampala suburbs of Gayaza, Najjera, Kira, Naalya, Namugongo and Mukono municipality.

Further the Minister gave an idea of prices of affordable housing properties in secondary residential suburbs around Kampala as follows:

Rental rates

1 bed apartment (40 m²) = UGX 450,000
2 bed apartment (65 m²) = UGX 650,000
3 bed apartment (80 m²) = UGX 800,000
2-3 Bed Houses (0.2-0.5-acre plot) = 1 -3 Million

Selling Prices

1 bed apartment (40 m2) = UGX 70,000,000
2 bed apartment (65 m2) = UGX 150,000,000
3 bed apartment (80 m2) = UGX 180,000,000
2-3 Bed Houses (0.2-0.5-acre plot) =350 Million – 500 Million

Finally, Hon. Amongi gave an overview on the political architecture of Uganda based on Multi-party democracy with election conducted every after 5 years. H.E President Y.K Museveni was elected in 2016 with a 62% win. One of the candidate challenged the presidential election in court but it was dismissed. Recently, Ugandan conducted local council elections successfully, after the debate on removal of age limit from the constitution, and the NRM party led by H.E Y. K Museveni, the President won over 80% of the local government elections nationally.

Government was formed and is running smoothly despite occasional protests arising out of some political events including the recent by-elections. IPOD, the framework for political engagement for political parties exist for discussing and resolving major political disagreements on strategic policy issues among political parties represented in parliament.

She said that, at international level, Freedom-house, which is a global democracy research agency has just release the 2018 Annual Freedom World report 2018; in their report, this is how they assessed Uganda:

“Uganda: Uganda’s status improved from Not Free to Partly Free due to the resilience of the media sector and the willingness of journalists, bloggers, and citizens to voice their opinions……”

In her report, she added, Uganda is rated as one of the countries that has respected democratic values and guaranteed free and fair elections, the rights of women and vulnerable groups, freedom of the press, and the rule of law. The report concludes that 45% of the countries in the world is free, 30% are partly free (Uganda assessed as falling in this category) and 25% not free.

Although she disagreed with some of the analysis, this shows that Uganda’s political environment is conducive for expression of political issues, investments and increased economic growth. Concluded that Uganda continues with growth in tourism, infrastructure Development, the workers, and the business community doing business as usual.

Finally she encouraged delegates to visit Uganda Investment Authority website (www.ugandainvest.go.ug) and Uganda Registration Services Bureau (https://ursb.go.ug) for various information.

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