Evelyn Anite rallies Chinese to invest more in Uganda 

Evelyn Anite, the state minister for Finance and Planning, has urged Chinese investors to increase their investment in Uganda, saying there was an available market for the business community to earn a good return.

Anite highlighted Uganda’s strategic location, with access to not only its population of 46 million but also to the East African community with over 300 million people, and extending further into the African Continental Free Trade Area, which represents a market of 1.3 billion people.

She was speaking during the Chinese-Uganda Investment and Trade Conference organized by the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce Uganda at Skyz Hotel Naguru recently.

The event witnessed the presence of a high-level Chinese delegation, led by Mr. Yuan Baocheng, the Vice Chairman of CPPCC Guangdong Provincial Committee, Hanlin Liu, the General Manager of Orion Transformers, and managing director of the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce Uganda, among others.

Anite pointed out that Uganda’s rich soils can support nearly any large scale agricultural project, which can then cater for the East African market.

David Bahati, the minister of State for Trade, outlined Uganda’s economic strategy, which focuses on import substitution and export promotion, with an emphasis on value addition. He commended the longstanding and productive relationship between Uganda and China, highlighting the significant growth in the number of factories in Uganda from 81 factories when the NRM took power in 1986 to 864 factories today.

He said Chinese investment has made a critical role in this growth. Yuan Baocheng, the vice chairman of the CPPCC, pledged to encourage more enterprises from Guangdong Province, China, to invest in Uganda, and he recognized the potential for growth in Uganda’s tourism industry.