Guests being addressed by Prime Minister of Uganda Robinah Nabbanja at the opening of the first Uganda–Italy Business and Investment Forum at Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria hotel in Italy Tuesday 13 October 2026.
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Uganda is still a virgin market, whose return on investment is among the highest in Africa, officials have disclosed.
Dr Robert Mukiza, Director General of the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), said investors can earn up to 14% return on investment which is rare anywhere in the world.
In remarks contained in a statement issued by Uganda Media Centre 13 October 20026, focusing on the recent investment summit held in Italy, he further noted that Africa’s population is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, with 1.1 billion people in the middle class, and urged Italian companies to serve the continent from Uganda through the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Dr Mukiza compared the authority to a duck gliding on water. “The feet are always flapping. Those feet are the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), such that you as a business continue to glide smoothly,” he said.
Hez Kimoomi Alinda, Executive Director of the Uganda Free Zones and Export Promotion Authority (UFZEPA), said investors in Uganda’s special economic zones would find incentives comparable to those in Italy.
Alinda explained that fish accounts for only 2% of Italy’s fish imports. He said Italy imports Ugandan cocoa unroasted, and urged Italian firms to set up plants in Uganda to make cocoa butter, cocoa liquor and chocolate products.
He listed fresh fruit and vegetables, vanilla, tea, spices, dairy, aquaculture, cold chains, packaging, IT-enabled services and tourism as other areas open to Italian investors.
Alinda said the European Union was a leading importer of Ugandan fresh produce, but Uganda lacked enough testing laboratories to meet EU standards. He invited Italian firms to build them.
He also offered Italian investors a free 1,031-square-metre production facility at Entebbe for value addition aimed at the Italian and EU markets.
Humphrey Asiimwe, Chief Executive of the Uganda Chamber of Energy and Minerals, invited Italian firms into energy, oil and gas, and mining.
He said Uganda has 58 known minerals, 23 of them commercially viable, including graphite, tin, tungsten and rare earths needed for the energy transition.
Asiimwe added that a British firm was already mining graphite at Orom in Northern Uganda, and an Australian firm was developing heavy rare earths in Eastern Uganda.
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