KAMPALA —Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja will speak at the virtual 11th UK-Uganda Trade and Investment Convention taking place Saturday September 11 from 2:00 pm local time.
PM Nabbanja who will deliver a keynote adress will speak alongside leading economists, diplomats and business leaders including Lord Popat, the UK Trade envoy to Uganda, Dr. Ramathan Ggoobi, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance and Ms Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General – Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation.
Others are; Rajiv Ruparelia, Managing Director, Ruparelia Group Michael Mugabi, Managing Director – Housing Finance Bank Anthony Kituuka, Executive Director, Equity Bank Uganda LTD and H.E Amb. Julius Peter Moto, Uganda’s High Commissioner to UK.
The list also includes
Robert Mukiza – Director General UIA, Dr. Mark Muyingo, MD – Neogenesis fertility centre, Eric Olanya, Head of Trade, DIT, British High Commission in Kampala, Dr. Nandawula Mutema*, ED & Physician at Clinic at The Mall, Dr. Samuel K. Mugasi, Executive Director – NAADS, Shahid Sheikh OBE, Global Packaging Consultant, Fred Mayanja, Commissioner, Planning, Ministry of Agriculture, and Judy Rugasira Kyanda, Managing Director, KnightFrank.
The 11th UK-Uganda Trade and Investment Convention will focus on key sectors including Agribusiness, healthcare, Finance (Fintech) and Real estate.
The Ugandan economy is emerging from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) health pandemic, but prospects for growth are undermined by increasing pressure on its natural resources, according to the latest World Bank economic analysis for the country.
The 17th Uganda Economic Update (UEU), From Crisis to Green Resilient Growth: Investing in Sustainable Land Management and Climate-Smart Agriculture, says that the COVID-19 shock caused a sharp contraction of the economy to its slowest pace in three decades.
Household incomes fell when firms closed and jobs were lost, particularly in the urban informal sector.
The country’s Gross Domestic Product contracted by 1.1 percent in 2020, and is estimated to have recovered to 3.3 percent during the 2021 fiscal year.
From the severe contraction in economic activity and its subsequent impacts on livelihoods during 2020, the report notes that signs of recovery have strengthened, underpinned by improved business and trading conditions as COVID-19 restrictions ease. Domestic investments picked up during the last quarter of 2020 in line with global invest recovery. Manufacturing and construction recovered during the quarter ending March 2021 while the cash crop sector has sustained agricultural sector growth.
The economic growth outlook is 4.6 percent in the 2022, and acceleration to 6.4 percent in the 2023 fiscal year, as domestic demand conditions improve, and global recovery continues as COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out.
The UEU says that Uganda’s immediate priority remains to save lives by intensifying measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease. Yet, the report says sustaining recovery will require the government to manage emerging risks including from widening fiscal deficits, escalating costs for small businesses, and climate shocks and loss of its natural capital.
The significant shift of Ugandans to agriculture in response to the crisis has heightened the urgency for the country to enhance sustainable use of natural resources. According to the report, land degradation, deforestation and climate risks contribute to the country’s economic vulnerabilities and poverty. Annual decline in forest cover, by 2.6 percent, is one of the highest rates of forest loss globally and climate risks, including slow onset change and extreme events exacerbate this natural capital degradation.
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