Campaign to promote Ugandan goods

The ‘Buy Uganda, Build Uganda’ policy, which was recently approved by cabinet, aims at encouraging Ugandans to buy locally-produced goods. However, critics say there is much more that needs to be done for entrepreneurs to benefit from a local market, writes Alon Mwesigwa.

Trade and Industry Minister Amelia Kyambadde said they had been supervising supermarkets and local products accepted in the big local stores had increased considerably. Ugandan products now make up about 40 per cent of goods in supermarkets. But one question remained unanswered: why don’t local products sell as well as the imported ones?

In an apparent attempt to address that question, the government recently launched the Buy Uganda, Build Uganda policy. It seeks to compel government ministries and departments to purchase local products instead of importing.

Godfrey Ssali, a policy analyst at the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), believes the policy is a positive step towards encouraging Ugandan producers to bring their ‘A’ game to the table.

While there is a policy to buy Uganda, it will still remain at someone’s discretion to buy a local product. This means that in supermarket shelves, Ugandan products will still be placed side-by-side with others imported from Kenya, South Africa, India or China.

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