The Executive Director of the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), Patrick Birungi, has reaffirmed the Corporation’s commitment to advancing Uganda’s industrialisation agenda and fostering sustainable economic growth through strategic collaboration with the private sector.
Speaking during the Spotlight Uganda dialogue hosted by NBS Television on Monday, Birungi said UDC’s mission is to catalyse industrial and economic transformation by supporting private sector growth in key investment areas.
“Our role is to work with the private sector to grow their businesses. Ultimately, it’s the common man who gains when the private sector grows,” Birungi said.
This year’s inaugural Spotlight Uganda dialogue was held under the theme, “Advancing Trade and Industrial Growth for Uganda’s Transformation,” highlighting the country’s journey toward upper middle-income status within the next decade and a half.
Birungi noted that within the agriculture sector, UDC has deliberately shifted focus from raw production to value addition, enhancing the competitiveness of Ugandan products both locally and globally.
“In agriculture, we agreed that our strength will move from production to the value addition component. This is because we want to sell both locally and internationally at better prices,” he said.
UDC currently operates in about 11 of Uganda’s 15 sub-regions, underscoring its growing footprint in national industrialisation efforts.
The Corporation is also pursuing targeted investments in mineral value addition, focusing on iron ore in Kigezi, sheet glass in the Masaka region, limestone in Karamoja, and salt extraction at Lake Katwe.
“We have a lot of good minerals here. These will be our main areas of focus in value addition,” Birungi explained.
Reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, Birungi stressed the importance of self-sufficiency and the need to empower local enterprises to take a lead role in infrastructure and industrial projects.
“If we learnt one thing from COVID, it was to be self-sufficient as a country. Our road construction at the moment is mostly by foreign companies. How do we grow our local companies? We are in spaces where the private sector needs to be supported so that we grow,” he said.
The forthcoming National Development Plan IV (NDP IV) will guide Uganda’s next growth phase, shifting from sector-based to programme-based planning to strengthen inter-agency coordination and maximise economic impact.
Organisers of Spotlight Uganda noted that the country’s projected tenfold growth will be anchored on agro-industrialisation, tourism, mineral beneficiation, and science, technology and innovation — all aligning with UDC’s investment priorities.
Birungi reaffirmed that UDC’s ongoing projects and new initiatives will continue to play a pivotal role in achieving this vision, driving Uganda closer to its upper middle-income goal.
The Uganda Development Corporation is a government agency mandated to promote and facilitate industrial and economic development through strategic investments that enhance value addition, create jobs, and stimulate sustainable growth.