Floored by flaws: Why Uganda remains the region’s investment underdog

By Steven Baryevuga Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a major catalyst for a country’s economic growth besides aiding the very important GDP that is a reflection of how economically stable a nation’s growth path is.  Investment in sectors like manufacturing, agriculture and services is a major boost to trade, growth and prosperity.It is the reason all countries have bodies tasked with attracting investment and working on creating incentives like tax holidays and subsidies to attract foreign capital.

Besides, FDI account for over sixty percent of private capital flows in nearly all African countries Uganda inclusive. The Uganda Investment Authority has been at the forefront of this investment drive on behalf of the country even though their efforts now hang in balance with Uganda still failing to make the top 10 foreign capital attractiveness for Africa even with the recent discovery of important resources like oil and gas. Uganda also lost the regional investment top slot to Tanzania, besides being overtaken by Kenya and Rwanda in pecking order.

Investment gone bad

This worrying fact is contained in a recently released report that ranks African countries according to their competitiveness for corporate investment. The report released by South African based Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) in its 2013/2014 “where to invest in Africa