uk – 12th UK Uganda Trade & Investment Summit 2022 | London

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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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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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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18/10/2020

Harnessing the potential of the youth to accelerate economic growth.

Presentation: Dennis Aguma, Lecturer, Kingston University, London Doctoral Student (PhD Entrepreneurship) Birmingham City University.

In light of Uganda’s demographics, Dennis Aguma’s presentation was intended to challenge the delegates on how to create jobs for a very fast changing, global and increasingly digital jobs market.

Aguma started by highlighting that over 90% of the data in the world today, was created in the last two years alone (IBM, 2017), a point he visually illustrated with statistics of what happens in just a minute online, with most of the activity taking place on platforms that didn’t exists 20 year ago (Fig 1).

Indeed, it is the younger generation that are logging into these platforms and churning out these huge amounts of data. This has in turn created a whole new set of jobs that didn’t exist in the past, such as Social Media Managers – as each company now has to have an online presentence, Content Creators – (Vloggers & Bloggers, particularly in light of fake news), Mobile App Developers – seeing as everything is designed for a “mobile-first” experience, Virtual Assistants as opposed to secretaries, and Big Data Analysts to analyse all this huge data being generated. At a local level, he gave examples of mobile money agents, and SafeBoda drivers and Urber drivers. In a nutshell, he emphasised “creative destruction” and the significance of a digital economy as almost every business strives to have an online presence in their quest to create new value or offer new products and services using these big platforms.

With this pace of change, Mr Aguma asked the audience to imagine what the jobs of the future looked like? He highlighted research by DEL which found out that 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet, and proceeded to give examples from the centre of the future of work, highlighting the 21 most after jobs in 2028.

If the future involves less traditional jobs, Mr Aguma wondered whether;

The Uganda education system / curriculum was equipping our youth with the right skills, particularly in the digital age of social media and remote working?
Design Thinking – whether we were providing students with real-world experiences, where they could assess the needs in their community and work together to solve them, and in the process start their own enterprises – experiential learning?
Given the easy mobility of labour, he wondered whether our youth could compete globally?

He postulated that Uganda is still failed by a colonial education system that has not moved with the times, and that the absence of a robust and well-coordinated skills and enterprise ecosystem, particularly in Higher Education Institutions, has meant that Uganda has continued to graduate students lacking in enterprise skills, and often unprepared for the world of work, let alone starting their own businesses. This has mean that whatever resources government puts into supporting the youth, often don’t yield results because this skills gap is not addressed at source – whilst young people are still in education.

In order to prepare for the kind of skills one needed for this unknown future, he gave three top 3 skills that’ll be most in demand by 2020 (WEF, 2017), and suggested if we wanted to be like China and India, where global brands like Apple & Dell outsource their jobs, then we ought to focus on them, namely;

Complex problem solving – particularly Design Thinking & the ability to commercialise ideas that solve common human problems.
Critical thinking – or the ability to forming core business strategies
Creativity & Innovation – the ability to come up with original ways to harness new technology and stand out in a competitive market.

He ended by calling on government to support the Association of Student Enterprises (NASE) which aims to;

Develop a vibrant start-up culture among local universities so that they become centres for generation of innovative viable businesses.
Improve the relevance and quality of pre-employment skills imparted to University Students before they join the world of work, delivered mainly through a national skills and enterprise programme, ensuring raised cognitive skills, an astute can-do mind-set and “market-ready” graduates.
Design and establish a straightforward enterprise education curriculum / one-stop platform of start-up resources, tailored to alleviate the enterprise skills gaps in Uganda’s education system.
Support the set-up and roll-out of a student enterprise / professional skills development programme across Ugandan universities and higher education institutions.
Establishment and coordination of incubation centres amongst all universities. This will help to support a core group of potentially investable student and graduate entrepreneurs.
A database / jobs portal for enterprising students / graduates that will have gone through our programmes across the whole country, making it easier to match skilled students with the right businesses / jobs. This will lead to sustainable placements / internship programmes, and raised productivity and competitiveness of businesses employing graduates from our programmes.
“Brick Fund” – a 1 Billion (Ugx), one-stop database of funding opportunities of grants and seed investment to help grow new business ideas or start-ups and support enterprising initiatives developed by students and recent graduates.

Supporting the above will lead to a vibrancy within the start-up and innovation ecosystem amongst Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This will be catalysed by an enhanced visibility and awareness campaign via publication of information regarding these enterprise activities through TV, Social Media and print magazines that could be routinely distributed through schools across the whole country.

Aguma, would relish an opportunity to meet his Excellency, not least to hand-deliver NASE’s Strategy and Business Plan, but also to invite him as the Guest of Honour at the 4th Leap Conference slated for Friday, 16th November 2018 at Makerere University Business School, Kampala.

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04/08/2020

Examining free trade agreements (FTAs) and boosting intra-regional trade

Examining free trade agreements (FTAs) and boosting intra-regional trade

Nicholas Tate, Managing Director, Tate Freight Forms Ltd.
www.just-trade.co.uk

In considering the positives and negatives of key agreements, are trade blocs, bilateral agreements and FTAs a facilitator or a hindrance to intra-regional trade in Africa?
African regional trade has some of the worst indicators in doing business, such as the highest volume of documents needed, the longest time to export, and the highest costs of importing/exporting:
Is this a banking or policy issue?
Improving infrastructure/logistics, restructuring cross-border tariffs/taxes, changing cultural mind sets: What are the biggest hurdles to increasing intra-regional trade in Africa?

Nicholas started by giving an overview of Just Trade and Tate Freight Forms which was started in 1981and has served the needs of international traders, exporters and importers and freight companies. This year they launched a new online service called Just trade which aims to make international trade accessible to all businesses. Just Trade deliver software applications for export, freight and government and publish information on rules of exporting to different markets around the world and their products are British Chamber of Commerce approved.

He has overseen business expansion through the development of partner programmes with several leading Chambers of Commerce – including Cambridgeshire COC and East Midlands COC – and well-known forex provider, Western Union Business Services. He has been instrumental in the development of the Tradex Export Documentation platform; working alongside established exporting businesses (like John Hogg and Thales Group UK) to create solutions that speed up completion of repetitive tasks whilst improving document acceptance rates.

On inter-regional trade, Nicholas said that countries within the East African Community have been improving relations with each other and have made progress on tariff production, however, overall regional trade has not improved as a propotion of total trade, it is believed that the reason is due to the prevalence of non-tarrif barriers.

In 2017 the Uganda Government set a target to triple Exports in 3 years. Exports were worth $2.3 billion in 2017 and by 2020 the total should grow to $8bn. Nicholas noted.

Nicholas further stressed that the way to achieve a more diverse economy is through the development of regional trade.

These estimates of informal cross-border trade suggest that the true figure for the proportion of intra-African trade relative to total trade is higher than the official figure of around 11 per cent.
In 2009 and 2010 Ugandan informal exports to its neighbours were worth $790 million and $520 million respectively.

Intra-Regional African trade between 1995 to 2011 has been at its lowest comparing to other markets like Asian and is quite a long way.

What should free trade agreements achieve?
There is a need to create a custom Union where goods should travel freely within the region
Elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers
Greater market opportunities
Bring down the cost of goods and improve welfare
Improvement of Infrastructure (transportation, power)
Access to finance

Infrastructure investments like the northern corridor and the standard gauge railway will bring down transport costs.