Lower tariffs can open markets. Meeting quality and safety standards determines whether Ugandan businesses can enter them, and stay there. Until 2019, a food processor in Gulu or Mbarara who needed a product tested had to send samples hundreds of…
By Debbra Mugaga Muyinza, Vice President, Diversified Industries Uganda’s gold story has reached a defining moment. The question is no longer whether the country has gold, or whether the mineral can earn foreign exchange. It is whether Uganda can turn…
Uganda wants Italian investors to move beyond buying its coffee, milk and minerals to processing them locally, transferring technology and manufacturing finished products for regional and international markets. The Uganda–Italy Business and Investment Forum in Rome has opened discussions around…
Uganda’s cocoa industry is growing rapidly, but the bigger opportunity may lie in what happens after the beans leave the farm. The country exported 72,545 tonnes of cocoa worth US 620.76 million in the financial year 2024/25, up from 51,678…
Uganda’s shilling has come under renewed pressure in September, with the currency moving towards the Shs4,000-per-dollar mark as businesses increase their demand for foreign currency amid higher energy costs, import requirements and uncertainty in global markets. On September 17, commercial…
The Uganda Shilling has been under pressure, but Bank of Uganda (BOU) Governor Michael Atingi-Ego does not believe that automatically gives the central bank reason to intervene. The Shilling weakened by about 3.2 percent against the US dollar year on…
Uganda is about to find out whether having more dollars is the same thing as having a stronger currency. As the country moves closer to commercial oil production, billions of dollars could begin flowing through an economy that already depends…
Uganda wants more of the world to come to her and more of what it produces to reach the world. That ambition is increasingly visible in its plans to grow tourism, expand exports and use major international events such as…
Uganda is building up its financial reserves, but the strategy is exposing a bigger question about the country’s economic resilience, can Uganda generate enough foreign currency to make those reserves sustainable? The Bank of Uganda has begun buying locally produced…
Uganda’s trade with China is booming, but almost entirely in one direction. In 2025, Uganda imported $3.3 billion worth of goods from China while exporting just $118 million. That means for every dollar Uganda sold to China, it bought roughly…
The global competition for investment is changing. Capital is available, but it is becoming more selective about where it goes, what it builds and the returns it can generate. For developing economies, this means the competition is no longer simply…
For decades, Uganda’s economic ambitions have been built around one central question: how do we produce more? The answer has shaped national policy conversations for years, increase agricultural productivity, expand manufacturing, attract investment, promote value addition and create industries capable…
When Uganda Airlines was revived in 2019, much of the conversation centred on restoring national pride, reconnecting Uganda to international destinations and rebuilding direct air links. Those objectives remain important. But as Uganda’s economy expands and its export ambitions grow,…
“To achieve growth from 50–60 billion dollars to 500 billion dollars is now extremely easy. We already have the roads and infrastructure in place; all we need is funding,” Tanna said. For more than two decades, Uganda has pursued a…
For generations, Uganda’s economy has been defined by what leaves its borders. Coffee is shipped to Europe and Asia. Gold enters international commodity markets. Tea, fish, flowers and agricultural products move through regional and global supply chains. Export growth has…