Uganda has been elected to the Industrial Development Board (IDB) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the period 2025–2027, following elections held during the 21st UNIDO General Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 23–27 November 2025.
The IDB, composed of 53 Member States, is responsible for reviewing the implementation of UNIDO’s work programme, regular and operational budgets, and making recommendations to the General Conference on key policy matters, including the appointment of the Director-General.
Uganda’s delegation to the General Conference was led by Isaac Sebulime, Ambassador of the Republic of Uganda to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and included officials from the Uganda Permanent Mission in Vienna and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
In his address to the General Conference, Amb. Sebulime commended UNIDO for its global role in promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development.
He highlighted Uganda’s strong interest in leveraging UNIDO’s expertise in transformative partnerships, knowledge transfer, and agro-industrialization to accelerate national development.
He noted that Uganda’s focus on promoting innovation, improving productivity, and increasing value addition—from primary processing of raw materials to secondary and tertiary manufacturing of medium- and high-technology products for export—aligns closely with UNIDO’s mission.
According to UNIDO, 125 million people worldwide depend on coffee for their livelihoods. Uganda is one of five African countries—alongside Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Tanzania—earmarked to benefit from the UNIDO–Italy Programme for Advancing Climate-Resilience and Transformation in African Coffee (ACT). The €15 million programme aims to improve livelihoods at the beginning of the coffee value chain by enhancing job opportunities and increasing incomes for farmers and their communities.
The General Conference was held as the Global Industry Summit and was organized around three thematic areas: investment and partnership, women and empowerment, and generation future.
The session on Women and Empowerment highlighted the essential role women play in economic and industrial development, emphasizing the need for equal rights, equal access to education and training, financial inclusion, and equal workplace opportunities.
Delivering the keynote address, Princess Mashael Saud Al-Shalaan, founder of AEON Collective, underscored the rapid progress made in Saudi Arabia’s development, particularly the expansion of opportunities for women in STEM and professional sectors.
She emphasized that equality and gender equity must be at the heart of industrial policy and called upon governments to listen to women’s voices, understand their needs, recognize the barriers they confront, and support them in rewriting those stories—keeping what empowers them and changing what holds them back.
During the General Conference, Nature Bio Foods, an Indian company with operations in Uganda, was announced as the winner of the UNIDO One World Sustainability Award in the category of Sustainable Supply Chains.
The award was received by Mr. Amit Singh, Sustainability Lead, who noted that sustainability cannot be addressed without focusing on agriculture.
He emphasized that sustainability is about increasing farmers’ incomes, reducing cultivation costs, and helping farmers reach a level where they can grow and prosper.
Nature Bio Foods, a subsidiary of LT Foods headquartered in India, opened a processing plant in Uganda in 2023. The company is currently working with 16,000 farmers involved in the production of soybean, sorghum, chia seeds, and sesame seeds for export.