The Uganda Manufacturers Association will from October 2-10, 2024, host the Annual Uganda International Trade Fair (UGITF) at the UMA Grounds in Kampala.
The Trade Fair is part of a process that UMA started in 1988, to construct a culture of industrialization that not only provides Ugandan households with basic consumer goods, but also contributes to the national GDP and jobs.
The trade fair Started in 1992, as a way of supplying the public with scarce commodities and household items.
Dr Ezra Muhumuza Rubanda, UMA Executive Director, said since the 1990s, manufacturers have covered the scarcity gap; significantly, and the trade fair is one of the avenues.
“There is no scarcity of products in this country, actually, products find people in their household but again we need continue holding Trade Fairs, because they are a source of feedback,” he says.
He noted that as UMA they have continued a trajectory to build a culture of industrialization, talking and collecting feedback from consumers during the trade fair.
Muhumuza explained that the UGITF is also contributing to the country’s agenda to increase industrialization and take advantage of Uganda’s resources.
“We want to produce for the region; we want to produce for the continent, which makes it a generational issue” he said.
He added that manufacturers and Ugandans in general are working to build a culture of industrialization that goes beyond the one producer of goods focusing on their own market and growth.
He revealed that the culture has so far resulted in close to two million direct jobs from the manufacturing sector.
Eddie Senkumba the UMA Chairman for
Communication and Events explained that in addition to the jobs, milestones since the first trade fair include increased growth of manufacturing output from $16.6 million in 1992 to $7.4 billion now. The manufacturing sector also contributes 23 % of the tax revenue in Uganda and directly employs close to 2 million people.
As a way to build on this success, this year’s UGITF will include new innovations in the Women, Agriculture, and Education pavilions, addressing some of Uganda’s most pressing challenges.
UMA Chairperson Deo Kayemba said they are expecting a wide range of new products which include locally made, smart phones, smart watches, smart Televisions, Electrical meters, Electric motors bikes, Rechargeable batteries, new irrigation systems, new water treatment technology, Improved flour machinery and so much more.
