There is need to explore alternative financing to develop industrial parks

This year’s National Budget will be presented on June 8, 2017, and it is also one year after the 2016 general elections in which government promised to take Ugandans to a prosperous lower middle-income status by 2020. The theme for this budget will be “Industrialisation and shared prosperity.” With a renewed mandate, government committed itself to foster prosperity through job and wealth creation for all.
In the Kisanja Hakuna Muchezo era, President Museveni directed all government ministries, departments and agencies to integrate their sector policy plans with the National Planning Framework, the manifesto commitments as well as the strategic guidelines and directives. In this one year prognosis, we highlight activities in the Kampala Industrial & Business Parks.
Uganda Investment Authority has already embarked on the process of establishing 23 Industrial & Business Parks as well as four regional Science & Technology Industrial Parks across the country. It is hoped that this will ease access to land for investments, introduce new technologies & research, there-by developing skills & creating jobs. In turn, this will boost Uganda’s exports and increase the local revenue base.
Recently, Uganda Investment Authority arranged a Tour of Kampala Industrial & Business Parks (KIBP). A team of government communication officers visited the key industrial-sites and some of the operational projects we visited include: Quality Chemical Industries (Luzira), Kyagalanyi Coffee Factory, and a few others. Quality Chemical Industries is a world class pharmaceutical manufacturing facility that has been operating at optimal capacity for some time now.
Twenty projects are currently in operation within the KIBP directly employing 11,000 Ugandans within the Park, 65 projects have commenced physical construction creating an additional 17,000 indirect short term contract/technical jobs. 139 projects are still processing their paperwork including environmental impact assessments (EIAs), architectural designs, land titling, geotechnical and hydrological studies.
These create employment to the various white collar professionals such as architects, civil engineers; quantity surveyors etc. On the tour, we learnt that 71 projects have been newly allocated plots and are in surveying and lease preparation stage. This was activity as at end of March 2017.
Major businesses seen in the Industrial Park include; Roofings Rolling Mills Ltd, Kyagalanyi Coffee, COMESA Industries, Orion transformers, Interior Technologies, Valley View Estates, Saba Gifco, Opit Investments Ltd, Victoria Seeds, Century Bottling Ltd (Coca Cola), Sunbelt industries, Three Ways Shipping, Kingstone Enterprises, Diamond Trust Bank, Roke Telecom, Hanson Eastern Investments, Steel & Tube Industries – phase 1, Saran Agro, Happy Family Welders, Leaf Tobacco, Alfasan – Farm Support Ltd to mention a few.
Some of the investors at advanced infrastructure development stages observed were Toyota, Mukwano Industries, Kazi Group, Mada Hotels, Office of the Prime Minister, DFCU Bank, Kampala Modernity Ltd, Tiang-Tiang Industries, Luuka Plastics, while others have commenced development such as Vinci Coffee, Spedag Interfreight, SDV TRANSAMI, Ntake Bakery, among others.
At full capacity, this industrial park will become the biggest hub in Uganda with 295 industries directly employing Approximately 200,000 Ugandans. Uganda Investment Authority estimates total investment capacity at USD$3.5 trillion and the industries in KIBP alone will be contributing more than USD$540 million in taxes per annum at expected full capacity in 2021.
The team observed low infrastructure development in the park which in itself is a disincentive to serious investors. Over and above, there is an acute need to explore alternative financing strategies in order to realise the development of the industrial parks.

Mr Katungi is a communications & media relations manager -UMC