Enhancing Trade and Business Opportunities in Uganda in the Framework of the EAC-EU EPA

The objective of the European Business Forum (EBF) in Uganda is to provide a networking platform for members to gain knowledge of their business environment and to keep abreast of upcoming commercial opportunities. In doing so, the EBF seeks to contribute to the promotion of trade and investment between European and Ugandan companies. The EBF also aims at creating a suitable framework for dialogue with the Government of Uganda and other stakeholders on stable environment for business and investments. In the long run, the ultimate objective would be to establish a Chamber of Commerce, providing networking, advocacy and business- related services to European companies in Uganda

Within the framework of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement and the EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement, the project´s main objective was to enhance trade and business opportunities in Uganda that contribute to sustainable and inclusive economic development.

More specifically, the project aimed at

•      defining a trade and business agenda that will improve the ease of doing business and investing for Uganda and European companies;
•      making recommendations for establishing a regular Uganda-EU trade and business forum among public authorities and the private sector;
•      preparing an implementation plan of the EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that assist private companies to take advantage of the new economic partnership.

The project has been divided into three separate, but complementary components: 

Component 1: Producing an economic diagnosis (market study/mapping) of the EU businesses operating in Uganda

•         Provided an economic analysis of European private-sector businesses in Uganda. The study focused on those economic sectors for which European investors function as particularly important contributors. It further identified European investors’ current and future investments, their impact on economic, fiscal (taxes contributed) and social (such as employment, training, and the benefits of company regulation) factors.

Component 2: Producing an EAC-EU implementation Plan

•      The EAC-EU implementation plan for Uganda identified the actions that the Government of Uganda shall take to facilitate businesses to use and take advantage of new reciprocal and asymmetric trade preferences. This operational work focused on the needs of European Business identified during the research phase for the market study and is supposed to inform the first Uganda-EU trade and business dialogues.

Component 3: Producing visibility and communications deliverables for the Uganda-EU economic partnership

•      Organising breakfast events to gather stakeholders to discuss and collect data;
•      Production of an outline of main findings for both the market study and the implementation plan for wider dissemination;
•      Event organisation to officially launch the market study and the implementation plan as a way to showcase to European investors and Ugandan business managers as well as politicians the advantages of an EU-Uganda business venture.