Oil and gas top FDI inflows

Kampala.

The Private Sector Investment Survey 2017 conducted by Bank of Uganda, Uganda Bureau of Statistics and Uganda Investment Authority has indicated that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to Uganda increased in 2016 to $625m (Shs2.3 trillion) from $538m (Shs2 trillion) in 2015.
Presenting the findings in Kampala, Mr Samuel Ssemabo, the Bank of Uganda acting director of statistics, said the major recipients of FDI during 2016 were mining and quarrying including oil (which constituted 33.4 per cent), wholesale and retail (30.6 per cent), finance and insurance (23.9 per cent) and manufacturing at 11.1 per cent.
“The increase is mainly on account of an upsurge in equity capital in the country. Net inflows of equity increased to $395m during 2016 compared to $352m in 2015,” he said.
The ongoing investment in oil and gas, Mr Ssemabo said, was the reason the sector had attracted more FDI than any other.
Netherlands contributed more inflows followed by Kenya, UK, France, Switzerland, Australia, South Africa, India, Bermuda and Seychelles.
The sectors accounted for 85.5 per cent of total stocks in the year under review. The survey was the 16th in a series of annual surveys jointly conducted by BoU, Ubos and UIA.
The report indicates that 746 enterprises contributed about Shs7 trillion and created about 103,108 jobs in the year under review compared to 100,127 created in 2015.
In terms of profitability by sector, finance and insurance had the largest share of total profits estimated at 60.9 per cent of total profits for all entities that responded.
The total profits for this sector however, increased to Shs767b in 2016 from Shs560b registered in 2015. While launching the survey, Mr Ben Paul Mungyereza, the Ubos executive director, urged the private sector to cooperate and provide information needed for government to plan sufficiently.
Mr Gideon Badagawa, the Private Sector Foundation Uganda executive director, said the survey was a critical point that will help government to formulate laws. “This is for the benefit of the private sector because government uses the information they obtain to formulate policies,” he said.