Goal 2: Promote Sustainable Industrialization in Uganda

The Bank’s aspiration for industrialization is founded on inspiring structural transformation from subsistence to a commercially oriented economy and from over-reliance on primary agriculture to manufactured finished products with a principle focus on the following key result areas:

Increased value addition of local raw materials and products with comparative advantage for social-economic transformation.
Increased exports of manufactured products by facilitating industries to increase production and matching market demands in terms of both quality and quantity, thereby reducing dependence on both importation of manufactured goods and exportation of primary commodities.

UDB aims to support industrialization in the country by playing a major role in making the economy competitive and innovative. The Bank will boost value addition to increase the country’s competitiveness and hence increase foreign exchange earnings through the following specific interventions:

Agro-industrialization: UDB will support secondary production processes aimed at value addition to agricultural produce – tapping into the growing local market of agro-manufactured products and fully exploiting the opportunities available in international markets through export promotion. Additionally, the Bank will support the Pulp and Paper industry, though relatively virgin in Uganda, it plays an important role in socio-economic as well as sustainable environmental development.
Manufacturing: This is the industry sub-sector, which does not utilize agricultural produce as raw materials. The Bank’s focus in this sub-sector will extend to financing the local production of essential goods as a precursor to achieving import substitution, and value addition to locally produced products as a foundation for export promotion.
Knowledge-based Industries: This industry is considered the backbone of the new economy due to its potential to accelerate national development. It consists of 1) the Pathogen economy and (2) Electric mobility. It should be noted that this industry is the least developed due to a lack of well-articulated structures and financing modalities. The Bank aims to give impetus to this industry by financing viable projects that have significant socio-economic impact.
Extractives Industries: This subsector includes iron ore & steel, mining, and oil & gas. To facilitate growth within this subsector, the bank will support industrial enterprises that focus on extraction and value addition for industrial and construction purposes. Therefore, the Bank will target cottage, small, medium, and large size industries to improve the industrial base of the country and increase the value of industrial exports to total exports. By promoting local industries, Uganda will reap several benefits including employment.

Goal 2: Promote Sustainable Industrialization in Uganda

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