Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) says it will have created over one million jobs in the next 5 years as local and foreign investors continue to embrace Uganda as a top investment destination.
Addressing the press on Tuesday at UIA offices in Kampala about her 100 days in office, Jolly K. Kaguhangire said she and her team are planning to streamline the authority activities and branding.
Kaguhangire said that their target is to generate 50,000 jobs every quarter.
“One of our immediate plans is to create 1 million jobs in 5 years,” she said.
However, statistics from UIA show that about 2,000 jobs have been attracted in the last quarter.
Kaguhangire added that since March 2017, about 76 companies have been licensed and $246m has been invested. She revealed that these are expected to create over 20,000 jobs.
She added that about 30 companies risk losing over 49.5 acres of land in Namanve Industrial Park if they don’t start developing it immediately.
She added that so far over 52 acres of land has been reclaimed from investors in industrial parks across the country over failure to develop it.
“We have managed to withdraw 52 acres of land from Namanve, Soroti among others. About 20 investors are already affected and those who have failed to start investing were given 18 months ultimatum to start development,” she explained.
Kaguhangire added that UIA needs a tune of Shs41bn for promotion and marketing programs, staff salaries and development of Industrial Parks.
Talking about the challenges, Kaguhangire cited extortion from a section of the top members of the public promising investors to take them to the President and also meeting UIA officials.
