Pretoria - Uganda has urged South African companies to take advantage of opportunities in that country’s construction industry.
The call was made as the Department of Trade and Industry leads a business delegation on an outward selling and investment mission (OSIM) in Kampala, Uganda on Monday.
Associate member of the Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABCEC) Arthur Bagarukayo urged the South African business people to invest and form joint-ventures with the locals in the construction and energy sector as they abound with opportunities.
UNABCEC is a voluntary, non-profit and non-political, member-driven association that brings together building and civil engineering contractors, as well as manufacturers and suppliers of construction-related materials in Uganda.
According to Bagarukayo, Uganda’s government is investing heavily in infrastructure development with a budget allocation of more than US$1.6 billion.
He said in the last ten years, infrastructure development has been at the heart of Uganda’s priorities in the roads, rail and energy sectors.
“[The] road infrastructure budget has grown significantly over the last few years and also the energy infrastructure budget has several projects lined up both in transmission lines and associated substations and rural electrification estimated at millions of dollars,” said Bagarukayo on Thursday.
He added that a law on private public partnerships has been passed and several projects were taking this route with the large ones being in Kampala.
“There are loads of opportunities that are opened now with this law in place. This will make it easier to establish joint-ventures tailored for both Ugandan and South African construction companies.
“I urge you to work together and identify opportunities of interest to Ugandan and South African companies and take advantage of these opportunities,” he added. –SAnews.gov.za
