Page 60 - Demo

Uganda’s Priority Sectors for Investment
1. Commercial Agriculture and Agro-processing
Uganda has the unrivalled potential to be the food basket of the East African Community, as well as the Great Lakes regions, with the capacity to export proces- sed foodstuffs to the wider COMESA economic bloc if more investment is targeted at processing more of the agro products. Uganda is among the leading producers of coffee and bananas. It is also a major producer of tea, cotton (including organic cotton), tobacco, cereals, oilseeds (simsim, soya, sunflower, etc), fresh and preserved fruit, vegetables and nuts, essential oils, orchids, flowers and sericulture (silk). Opportunities include commercial farming and value addition, as well as the manufacture of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides etc.), the supply of agricultural machinery and the establish- ment of cold storage facilities as well as the production of packing materials. Public-Private Partnership invest- ment opportunities exist in the commercial production of cereals (maize and rice) and beans. A Public-Private Partnership Investment Opportunity is detailed in the projects section
2. Adding Value to Minerals
Uganda has large under-exploited mineral deposits of gold, oil, high-grade tin, tungsten/Wolfram, salt, bery- llium, cobalt, kaolin, iron ore, glass sand, vermiculite, phosphates (fertilizer), Uranium and rare earth elements.
There are also significant quantities of clay and gypsum. Gold occurs in many areas of the country, including Busia in the east, Buhweju and Kigezi in the west, Mubende – Kiboga in the central region and significant occurrences in Karamoja in the northeast. Particularly, the demand for iron and steel is rising due to the need to develop infrastructure projects in energy, oil and gas, as well as the railways.
Uganda provides special incentives to the mining sector with some capital expenditures being written off in full.