3^RDANNUAL REGIONAL INDUSTRIALIZATION CONFERENCE 2026

Uganda's export industry remains largely driven by raw commodities such as coffee, fish and flowers, yet much of the value is added outside the continent. This represents a missed opportunity. We must now deliberately empower our SMEs to take charge of processing, packaging and manufacturing. With the right support, particularly financing tied to export market access, SMEs can become central players in driving regional industrialisation and inclusive economic growth.

We need to strengthen partnerships within the business community across EAC member countries. While major infrastructure projects are underway in the region, participation from our local contractors remains limited. I am not opposed to foreign companies, but I believe local firms must be able to secure a meaningful share of these projects.

If the business community does not operate as a united front, speaking with one voice and acting with a shared purpose, it becomes difficult for our governments to hear us clearly. Too often we send mixed signals as private sector leaders. By coordinating and specialising across the region, leveraging each country's unique strengths in human capital, natural resources, regulations and investment environment, we can present a coherent agenda and accelerate the achievement of our collective economic goals.

Uganda is pursuing large-scale industrialisation through strategic areas such as agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, energy and ICT. The East African Development Bank (EADB), which is majority-owned by East African governments, is supporting this goal by providing long-term, flexible capital for industrial ventures, including grace periods of up to four years and financing that matches project lifecycles. For a sector that has long faced limited access to affordable financing, this marks a significant breakthrough.

Africa and Uganda in particular must not just consume but actively shape the future of tech-driven industrialisation. AI is not a buzzword for Uganda's industrial journey — it is a tool we must master.

The energy conversation has increasingly become a geopolitical tool used to frustrate the ambitions of African countries and the wider Global South. Without reliable energy sources and true energy security, a country cannot achieve social or economic transformation. Every industry that creates jobs, and every SME that hopes to grow into a large-scale manufacturing plant, depends on access to power.

When women earn, entire households and communities benefit, from peace and food security to health and education. The call is clear: governments across East Africa must deliberately prioritise women in trade, finance and entrepreneurship. Now is the moment to embed women at the centre of regional industrial transformation.

East Africa has it all: a population of 420 million, DRC's minerals, and South Sudan's oil. But potential alone is not enough. Policy contradictions remain the biggest barrier to our regional growth. The East African Common Market Protocol was created to unify us, yet no country has fully implemented it. National interests continue to take precedence over regional progress.