Allocate free land to investors, Museveni tells local leaders

Jinja.

Investors looking to invest in industrial development must be allocated free land without delay, President Museveni has directed.

Justifying his directive, Mr Museveni said granting free land to investors will boost industrialisation, which will in turn solve the unemployment question.

Speaking at the launch of Sunbelt Textile Company in Jinja Town on Monday, the President said investors who want to establish factories and industries should be provided free land without any delay, arguing that Ugandans will be the ultimate beneficiaries.

He said it’s the economy that stands to lose if Ugandans make it hard for investors to operate in
“At least 1,200 youth are now employed in this factory. If we get another 10 factories of this kind in Jinja then we will have at least 12,000 youth employed here. And if we get 100 factories like this one then we will have all our youths in Busoga get jobs and we will even have excess jobs,” Mr Museveni said.

He continued: “For this to happen I want you to give investors land so that they don’t find it a challenge when they want to set up factories here. Already I have worked on the issue of electricity and it is no longer a problem.’’

Creating excess jobs
Mr Museveni said he wants to turn Uganda and particularly Busoga sub-region into a Japan of sorts where there are excess jobs for the youth.

He noted that a factory does not need a huge space as it can operate on a small piece of land but with high capacity for mass employment unlike a farm that takes a huge space yet employs very few people.

“This factory sits on 13 acres of land and it generates $110m (Shs396b) every year.

“But if the same land is used to grow potatoes, how much do you think will be collected every year and how many will be employed?” The President asked.

He continued: “You know very well that Jinja is an industrial area and that is why we need more industries here to create many jobs and make us a lot of money compared to what we can earn from agriculture.’’

According to the President, the future prosperity of the country can be generated from industries, both big and small scale, commercial agriculture and in services such as hotels and Information Technology.

These sectors, he said, will boost the economy and help supplement the meagre job (about 40,000 jobs) opening that the government provides every year.

Mr Museveni also warned against corruption, saying it scares away potential investors from investing in the country.
“You have to be trustworthy so as not to tarnish your name as a country. If you are not a trustworthy person when these people go back to their country they tell others that Ugandans are thieves and this is not good for our reputation and our efforts to turn our country into an investment destination.”

He, however, pledged to have the Jinja Municipality road improved, saying it will also enhance the status of the town.
He said: “Your people stole my money for Katosi Road but the work has since resumed so don’t get worried. The money for roads is available and we are going to work on Main Street Road, Walukuba-Masese Road and Nile Resort Hotel Road.”

His pledge followed an appeal from the Mayor of Jinja Municipality, Mr Majidu Batambuze, on renovation of roads which are currently in a poor state.
The chairperson of Sunbelt Group of Companies, Mr Sun Lian Zhang, said they have invested $18 million (Shs64.8b) in the company.

Priority sectors
In 2014, then minister for Investment Gabriel Ajedra said a new criterion had been drawn by the government to start giving free land to investors.

“Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) has developed a land allocation criteria which has already been approved by both UIA and PPDA that will be used to allocate land to all deserving investors in all our industrial parks across the country,” Mr Ajedra said at the Media Centre in Kampala.

He said investors in four government priority sectors; minerals, hospitality and tourism, agro-processing and ICT, will get land.

UIA strategy

While speaking about her target to transform Uganda into a top investment destination recently, Ms Jolly Kaguhangire, the executive director of Uganda Investment Authority, said part of her strategy was to look into interests of Uganda, the needs of investors and look at UIA’s internal capacity to take on a different approach to grow investment.
Top on her agenda is to ensure that industrial parks are functional.

“Functional industrial parks covering four regions of the country will be developed by the end of four years, beginning with the completion of Kampala Industrial Business Park Namanve, Nakasongola and others,” she said.

Ms Kaguhangire said she intends to build investor confidence and strengthen processes at UIA. “Investor confidence cannot be built when you have poor services, delays in processes, we have to have professionalism in what we are doing,” she said.