KAMPALA – The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives has reported significant growth in Uganda’s economy, which has risen from US$3.9 billion in 1986 to US$61.9 billion in 2025, with Gross National Income per capita climbing to US$1,389.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The development was unveiled by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Sanjay Tanna, on Wednesday during a press briefing at the Uganda Media center in Kampala, on the upcoming three-day National Industrialization Conference (NIC) 2026.
The conference, set for November 18–20, 2026, in Kampala, will run under the theme “Celebrating Uganda’s Industrial Growth,” culminating in Africa Industrialization Day on November 20 and UDC’s 10th anniversary since its 2016 re-establishment.
Addressing the press, Minister Sanjay Tanna said the conference aims to move beyond policy dialogue to tangible industrial action by uniting policymakers, industry leaders, investors, and researchers to turn national economic goals into manufacturing growth, policy implementation, and investment.
“The primary objective of the Conference is to bring together policymakers, industry leaders, investors, and researchers to translate national economic goals into practical manufacturing growth, policy implementation, and investment,” Tanna said.
The conference will pursue six strategic objectives: showcasing Uganda’s productive capacity, mobilizing investment and market access, promoting green industrial infrastructure, advancing value addition and technology adoption, commemorating UDC’s ten-year milestone, and strengthening stakeholder collaboration.
The Minister highlighted significant achievements in Uganda’s industrial sector, noting that manufacturing’s contribution to GDP reached 24.9% in 2025, with annual growth of 6.4%.
The sector has attracted over 12,000 formal manufacturing industries, up from just 81 in 1986, employing over 1.8 million Ugandans and consuming more than 70% of the country’s total electricity generated.
“Uganda is now a net exporter of goods that we used to import such as soap, sugar, milk, salt, cooking oil, soda, beer, cement, steel, and paper. In the past 15 years, we have added over 31 new value-added products to our export basket,” Minister Tanna noted.
Minister Sanjay Tanna further urged the entire Ugandan business community to participate in the conference, seize the country’s investment and market access opportunities, and play a leading role in Uganda’s industrial transformation.
Uganda’s exports of goods and services increased by 204%, from US$5.93 billion in 2022 to US$18.04 billion in 2026, driven by strong performance in gold, coffee, cocoa, sugar, fish, and manufactured products.
Foreign Direct Investment remains strong at US$3.2 billion, while exports from Free Zones reached US$1.37 billion, highlighting the contribution of industrial parks and Special Economic Zones.
The Executive Director of UDC, Dr. Patrick Birungi, noted that the milestone celebrates not just ten years of institutional existence but a decade of investing in Uganda’s productive capacity, supporting enterprises, creating jobs, and driving industrial transformation.
“As we mark this milestone, we are not merely celebrating ten years of institutional existence. We are celebrating a decade of investing in Uganda’s productive capacity, supporting enterprises, creating jobs, and contributing to the country’s industrial transformation,” Birungi said.
He added that the UDC has over the years invested in 28 companies, generating over 5,799 direct jobs and thousands of indirect ones, while its enterprises annually buy over 35,000 tonnes of produce, pay suppliers about UGX 138.45 billion, earn US$14.22 million in exports, and contribute over UGX 30 billion in taxes.
Birungi added that the UDC has lined up activities to showcase investments driving Uganda’s transformation, including groundbreakings for Pamoja Packaging in Mukono and Masheda Feeds in Mpigi, among others.
He emphasized that these activities demonstrate industrialization is not merely an aspiration or policy statement but a reality unfolding through investments, infrastructure, factories, production lines, local supply chains, and partnerships.
“These activities are important because they demonstrate that industrialization is not simply an aspiration or a policy statement. It is happening through investments, infrastructure, factories, production lines, local supply chains, and partnerships,” Birungi emphasized.
Government is implementing strategic interventions to promote industrial development, including boosting production capacity, adding value to local raw materials, establishing industrial parks, linking farmers to processors, and improving access to finance through UDC and Uganda Development Bank.
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