From May 28 to 29 Uganda Investment Authority held the first ever Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) investment conference at Sheraton Kampala Hotel in which over 60 investors from the council that comprises Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Oman attended. The Independent’s Julius Businge interviewed the Acting Executive Director for Uganda Investment Authority, Tom Buringuriza.
This is the first GCC conference to be held in Uganda under the auspices of Uganda Investment Authority on behalf of government. What are the key issues here?
Uganda has many opportunities as the president outlined while opening this conference and many Ugandans know that the best way to do business is to have partnerships with countries in the world that can invest. We had to bring in over 60 potential investors from the Gulf so that they can link with our local investors and at the end of it all they find a way to benefit from each other. We have had discussions with the investors in different fields and I am sure some business people have concluded deals not only with the investors but also with some of the financing organisations like the Islamic Development Bank.
Why are these countries coming to Uganda at this time and which areas are they targeting?
We have outlined our opportunities in agriculture, ICT, energy, infrastructure, and in many other areas but these investors are business people; they have their own ideas. Of course our natural resources speak for us.
Recently UIA announced that the economy recorded planned investments worth US$806 million between January and March compared with US$223.3 million in the last quarter of 2011, which was a sharp rise. What do you expect as GCC members get on board?
I do not want to forecast but we will see when letters of intent have been signed and then we try to follow them up and then proceed. What I can tell you now is that more investors will jet in and the numbers will keep going up.
Do you really see our local investors benefitting?
Yes. We have done a lot to try to train them on how to make good projects and those who followed and are continuing to consult us and to follow our advice will go ahead and succeed.
What are Uganda’s main attractions as an investment destination?
Uganda has got good climate, fresh water, organic food, educated people, oil and gas and many other enabling factors that can support investment.
Manufactures and other business people still say the investment climate in Uganda is not conducive largely because of the high inflation. What is your view?
This is not entirely a Ugandan problem, it is a global problem, Greece, Spain, and others are going through similar problems. Uganda is suffering but it is surviving because of the stability we have had and the good macroeconomic management. I believe we will come out of this. At the end of last year we had reached 30% (inflation rate) but now we are down to 20%
What strategies is UIA implementing to encourage investment in Uganda?
We have not been organising conferences here but we have been going to foreign countries trying to sell our opportunities. Now we are bringing investors here. For these visitors to come here means Uganda is now interesting especially when people come in at their own cost. We write business plans which we give out to small and medium enterprises and other Ugandans who want to invest; you need to just come to our research department and pick any that you want and they are free. We also help in advocacy; we have a forum, the Presidential Investors Table where we make it possible for investors to meet the head of state, the prime minister, the cabinet twice every year and talk directly to them about what they need to see in order to improve their investment climate.
Critics say most foreign investors repatriate profits and leave little for those countries they invest in.
Those are negative perceptions. Who doesn’t know that these people create jobs, pay taxes, do corporate social responsibility, and others?
While opening this conference, president Museveni said the country was doing well in all other sectors except infrastructure. What is your view?
The president means infrastructure is not an event, we need to improve every day; we have some roads which are better compared to situations in the past. In 1986 we borrowed 100% to finance our capital development but now we are borrowing only 26%. That is a huge development.
But most businesses in Uganda are SMEs which means many cannot easily read from the same page with huge foreign investors.
That is true. As far as I know all companies in Uganda fall in that category but they should get trained, be formal, get organised, save their money, get more educated about what they are or intend to do, they should seek more information, be proactive, understand their markets and above all they should register their business to make them formal so that they can easily be helped.
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