KAMPALA – Cabinet has approved the proposal to borrow $99.8 million (about Shs384 billion) from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group to finance the Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (CEDP-AF).
According to a Cabinet statement issued on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, the project development objective is to support measures that facilitate increased private sector investment in the tourism sector and strengthen the effectiveness of the land administration system.
CEDP is supporting reforms geared towards improving the competitiveness of Uganda by improving the business environment, lowering the cost of doing business and improving competitiveness of selected high-impact sectors. CEDP is being coordinated by the Private Sector Foundation, and implemented by a number of government agencies including Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ministry of Tourism, Wild Life and Antiquities, Uganda Tourism Board, Uganda Wildlife Authority, Uganda Registration Service Bureau, the Jinja Hotel and Tourism and Training Institute and the Private Sector Foundation.
CEDP has four components: the Matching Grant Facility, Business registration and licensing reform, Tourism competitiveness development and Land administration and management reforms
The Matching Grant Facility, aims at improving the private sector enterprise capacity by facilitating beneficiaries’ to access matching grants of up to 50%. This is envisaged to impact on productivity, income, sales and employment.
CEDP has registered a number of achievements among them includes the reduction in the number days taken to register a business.
