East African Business Week (Kampala)
Edris Kisambira
29 November 2008
Kampala, Uganda — A powerful trade delegation from Sweden that included chief executives and representatives from some of Sweden's big companies toured Tanzania and Uganda last week.
The executives and representatives who were drawn from companies like ABB, one of the world's leading engineering companies, SAAB Technologies, Scania and Swedbank, one of the big banks in Sweden - were in the two countries to prospect for investment opportunities.
Anders Johnson, the ambassador of Sweden to Uganda said private sector development and trade is an area the Swedish government has not looked at in the past but that it is a sector that is set to grow in importance.
"Business co-operation has been in the shadow of development assistance where we co-operate with Uganda but it is an area my government is keen to see grow in importance," Johnson said.
Other companies that were represented are heat transfer and fluid handling company Alfa Laval, networks developer Ericsson, business realization firm Multitude Invest AB, consulting firm PROCERTO Consulting AB and fund management firm Prosperity Capital Management.
Others are renewable energy firm Renetech AB, military defence firm SAAB, consulting firm SWECO and risk capital company Swedfund International AB.
Johan Marcus, a trade commissioner with the Swedish Trade Council, which organised the tour said some Swedish investors are already here.
Marcus revealed that heavy vehicle manufacturer Scania was moving to open up dealerships and workshops in Uganda and Rwanda.
A pharmaceutical company, HemoCue AB, which deals in advanced health technology, is also set to open up shop in Uganda.
The ambassador said business co-operation between Uganda and Sweden will grow linkages between the Swedish private sector and the Ugandan private sector, which should result in increased foreign direct investment from Sweden to Uganda.
Dr. Maggie Kigozi, the executive director Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) enumerated the positives of investing in Uganda and key among many is Uganda's centrality in the markets of the Great Lakes region.
Today, Uganda is attracting unprecedented levels of FDI because of her central location to the adjacent markets of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, southern Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kigozi mentioned the priority sectors in Uganda including manufacturing, transport and infrastructure, agriculture, energy, mining, ICT, health services, tourism and carbon trade.
She said opportunities in the manufacturing sector include adding of value to Uganda's agricultural goods as well as manufacture of finished goods especially for the adjacent markets.
In the energy sector, Kigozi told the delegation Uganda has unexploited potential for both big power projects as well as small power projects.
She told the delegates of Uganda's new found wealth of oil and gas which is still at exploration stage. Kigozi said when commercial production starts, there will be opportunities in the petro-chemical industry that will emerge and grow as a result.
Beside oil and gas, Kigozi said there is new information about Uganda's mining sector. She said there was a lot of yet to be exploited gold and iron ore reserves.
In the services sector, Kigozi said investments in education were welcome considering that Uganda is already looked at as a regional educational hub.
She said Uganda needed more hospitals in specialized areas and welcomed more investment in the financial services sector.
Despite the positives, Kigozi told the delegates of the constraints of investing in Uganda, key among them being poor infrastructure especially roads and rail as well as expensive credit.
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