The Benefits of an Investment License

1.0: Investment License

1. The license authorizes the investor to make all arrangements necessary for setting up the business enterprise described in the license
2. The Executive Director communicates on behalf of the investor to Government Ministries and departments, local authorities and other bodies as may be necessary in order to assist an investment license holder to comply with any formalities or requirements for obtaining any permission, authorizations, licenses, land and other requirements for implementing the business enterprise. A good example is environmental clearances from NEMA and approvals/licenses/permits from regulators like National Drug Authority for manufacturing pharmaceuticals and Electricity Regulatory Authority for generating electricity for distribution

2.0: Benefits of an Investment License to the Holder
The benefits that accrue to the holder of an investment license include:

• Assistance in acquiring secondary licenses or approvals except in the following sectors, where the regulator issues the primary license (mandatory) i.e. mining, banking, energy and drugs/ pharmaceutical, as well as the health and education services.
• Assistance in recommendations for various services e.g. loans from commercial banks, project development assistance from Development Partners, and introductions to Equity Funders etc.
• Assistance in recommendations and the follow up on the acquisition of work permits
• Assistance in access to land for investment. Investors can be allocated land in the operational and planned Industrial and Business Parks. In addition, linkages to private land owners for purchase can be made.
• Possibility of Joint Venture Partnerships through the Match making of the licensed domestic investors with foreign inward missions, as well as the establishment of markets for licensed investors to supply raw material or finished products
• Participation in outward missions and organized international fora, at which licensed investors (domestic and foreign) get exposure, markets and machinery
• Provision of aftercare services in relation to specific challenges such as tax disagreements, closures for various reasons, and support in negotiations with other parties e.g. Government Departments, equity funders, Community Based Organisations etc.
• Participation in free specialized training and workshops for
• especially domestic investors who need to build their capacity to measure up to best international practices in carrying out business with Transnational Corporations.

3.0: Benefis of an Investment License to the Government
The licensing of investments in Uganda provides vital information for the Government in the following areas:

1. The Monitoring of private sector inflows for purposes of formulating policies that will sustain and increase the current levels of economic growth and development
2. The assessment of confidence levels of the private sector in the economy deduced from the trends of inflows
3. The provision of timely and reliable data on foreign assets and liabilities to formulate policies that will guard Uganda’s economy from negative external effects experienced by down turns in the international economies. The data enables government to plan for mitigations against any such destabilizing effects.
4. Management of the financial sector and planning for aversion of potential economic crises to foster stable growth. It is important in Uganda’s investment promotion, facilitation and retention efforts
5. Better decision making and to meet international standards and codes in reporting
6. Compilation of Uganda`s Balance of payments and International Investment Position statistics
7. Assessment of how foreign investment complements local investment in form of feedback from the private sector, which is critical for policy fine tuning that benefits all stakeholders in the economy
8. Assessment of the perceptions of the private sector investors on the investment climate in Uganda in order to

Evaluate the impact of the existing policies. This can be done from the results of the periodic private sector surveys carried out among licensed companies

For more information on these and more, please visit or contact:
Uganda Investment Authority
22B Lumumba Avenue
2nd Floor TWED Plaza, Nakasero
Kampala, UGANDA
Email: info@ugandainvest.go.ug
Tel: +256 414 301000