Incoming investment authority seven-member board unveiled

April 17, 2019 in Business, Investment, Policy by Editor

Anite (4th left) told Kugonza (4th right) and his team the government wants UIA to license a 100 enterprises on a weekly basis.

April 17—Evelyn Anite, the junior finance minister for investment, officially unveiled the new board of the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) this morning in Kampala. Its tenure is three years.

“Our target is one million jobs per year and a total of 25 industrial parks. We expect you to not only license a 100 companies weekly, but also facilitate them to succeed by providing them with a good investment environment,” she told the incoming seven-member team chaired by Emely Kugonza.

Others are Morrison Rwakakaba, Fred Opolot, Maima Obombasa, Gertrude Lutaaya, Godfrey Byamukama and Joshua Mutabi, a representative of the trade ministry.

Started in 1991, the UIA  is a semi-autonomous government agency which drives national economic growth and development in partnership with the private sector.

She asked the board to resist any temptations emanating from corruption that come with being in influential positions.

“You are high quality people who have been selected from a pool of able leaders. We trust you and believe you will be able to work hand in hand with the administrative team to change the quality of foreign investors that we attract to this country,” she said.

Kugonza thanked the Minister and the entire finance ministry for the support given the board since it was announced. He promised to work with everybody to make a success of their intervention.

The Investment Promotion Division is one of the two core divisions of the UIA directly involved in the investment process. It is responsible for leading UIA’s efforts in the attraction of foreign and domestic direct investment.

Anite said, “Our biggest challenge has been the quality of investors we have been attracting to our country. That is why we have seen a lot of ‘white elephant’ investments that never yield any tangible benefits,” Anite said.