Sunday 27 March 2011

British investors urge Uganda to improve country’s marketing

By Walter Wafula  (email the author)


Posted  Monday, March 28 2011 at 00:00

United Kingdom-based investors have advised the government to strengthen its marketing efforts to draw more foreign investments to Uganda.
A group of 20 investors under the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who visited Kampala last week said, Uganda has the potential to attract many firms in the UK but it is weak at marketing itself.
“If you want people to come and invest in Uganda, you should present at workshops and exhibitions in the United Kingdom. I would strongly recommend that that’s the way to go,” said Mr Subhash Thakrar, the chairman LCCI.
Mr Thakrar is a Ugandan of Indian origin who has lived in the UK for the last 40 years but plans to woo investment firms to Uganda through his company Blackstone Franks LLP in London.
“There are a variety of business in London that could do business with Uganda, in areas like water management, asset management, and branded items,” he said.
Mr Orlando Ames-Lewis, the head of the UK Trade and Investment department in East Africa said Uganda is not attracting as many investors as it should because investors still recall the Idi Amin era and believe nothing has changed.
“One of the problems is that Uganda has in attracting investment is the image perception problem,” Mr Ames-Lewis told journalists in Kampala last week.
“People don’t always see Uganda in the light they should and we need a way to get around this.”
Attracted a few
Despite the perception problem, Uganda has managed to attract a few investors like; Tullow Oil, Heritage Oil, Dominion Petroleum with British roots.
These oil exploration firms were attracted to the country by the discovery of oil by firms like; Australia’s Hardman Resources which sold its local assets to Tullow in 2006.
Mr Thakrar said several companies under the LCCI are keen on investing in Uganda but they need more information about the market before they come in.
A number of these were part of the Trade Mission that came to Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania last week in search of investment opportunities in the region.
The firms included; HSBC Bank, Alcohols Limited, Coltrad, Deben Diagnostics, Mount Laboratories UK, Rapier and Sagewood.
Executives of these firms met with government ministers, private sector foundation executives and key business people in Uganda to lay the foundations for their entry.
Mr Thakrar also wooed local firms to proactively seek markets in the UK because their plenty of opportunities for them. “It has to be a two way trade in future.
It can’t always be one way.”

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