Uganda has offered Italian investors potential returns of 14 per cent on investment, urging them to establish industries in the country to process coffee, milk, minerals and other raw materials for local and international markets.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja made the appeal during the opening of the inaugural Uganda–Italy Business and Investment Forum at Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria hotel in the Italian capital, on Tuesday.
She urged Italian companies to shift from importing raw materials from Uganda to investing in local processing and manufacturing, saying value addition would create jobs and increase earnings for Ugandan farmers.
“We want our people from Italy to take coffee made in Uganda, not grown in Uganda,” Nabbanja told Ugandan officials and Italian business leaders.
She said roasting and packaging coffee in Uganda would enable farmers to benefit more from the international coffee trade while creating employment opportunities for the country’s youthful population.
Italy is Uganda’s biggest coffee buyer. Uganda exported 8.8 million 60-kilogramme bags of coffee in the year ending April 2026, earning $2.4 billion, according to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
Nabbanja said farmers who grow, tend and harvest coffee earn relatively little from selling raw beans, yet a kilogramme of finished coffee can fetch about €50 in Italy.
“That is where I want partnerships, so that we can help that poor Ugandan who makes you have a cup of coffee on the table,” she said.
Dr Gerald Kyalo, the Commissioner for Coffee at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, said more than 12 million Ugandans depend on coffee for their livelihoods, while Italy accounts for about a quarter of Uganda’s coffee exports.
He said Uganda is Africa’s largest producer of robusta coffee, which accounts for 89 per cent of the country’s production, while arabica accounts for the remaining 11 per cent.
Italy has purchased more than two million bags of Ugandan coffee annually over the past five years, Dr Kyalo said.
“You are our main market, and we are your most important supplier of coffee,” he told Italian buyers.
He said Uganda’s coffee production had reached 9.5 million bags in the 2025/26 season, putting the country on course to meet its target of producing 20 million bags annually by 2030.
The government is distributing more coffee seedlings to farmers as part of efforts to expand production, he added.
Dr Kyalo said Italian buyers had also raised concerns about Uganda’s preparedness for the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which requires proof that imported coffee has not been produced on land linked to deforestation.
He said Uganda had registered 1.5 million coffee farmers and mapped 1.6 million coffee gardens, with the number of mapped gardens expected to reach 2.6 million by the end of December.
A traceability system linking farmers, traders and a national data warehouse is also being piloted to help track coffee along the supply chain.
“We are ready for EUDR. Don’t lose sleep that you will not have coffee from Uganda,” Dr Kyalo said.
He added that Uganda consumes only about seven per cent of its coffee production, creating opportunities for Italian companies to establish soluble coffee processing plants in the country.
He also announced plans to introduce a national “Ugandan Coffee” brand and logo for coffee exports beginning in the next financial year.
Investment opportunities
The two-day forum, themed “Unlocking Shared Prosperity”, is organised by Uganda’s Embassy in Italy in partnership with Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s Investment and Technology Promotion Office in Italy, and Bergs & More Srl.
It focuses on investment opportunities in oil and gas, energy, agro-industry, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
The discussions also include a proposal to establish industrial parks for Italian manufacturers under the concept “Made with Italy in Uganda”.
The forum forms part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ efforts to turn Uganda’s diplomatic missions into drivers of trade, investment and economic growth.
Under the Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Strategy for 2025/26 to 2029/30, launched in Gulu in August 2025, Uganda’s foreign missions are expected to promote exports, foreign direct investment, tourism, technology partnerships and climate finance.
The strategy is aligned with Vision 2040, the Fourth National Development Plan and the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy, which seeks to expand Uganda’s economy from $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040.
The strategy prioritises agro-industrialisation, tourism, mineral development, and science, technology and innovation.
Nabbanja told investors that Uganda’s economy was valued at $69 billion and growing at about six per cent annually.
She linked the four priority sectors to opportunities for Italian companies, including agro-processing machinery, cold-chain infrastructure, tourism facilities, mineral value addition and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The Prime Minister said Uganda planned to generate 52,000 megawatts of electricity by 2040, arguing that industrialisation would be impossible without adequate and reliable power.
She also called on Italian pharmaceutical companies to establish manufacturing facilities in Uganda, saying the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed Africa’s vulnerability to dependence on imported medicines.
Nabbanja asked the Italian government to consider Uganda a priority country for projects under the Mattei Plan, Italy’s framework for cooperation with African countries.
She also appealed to Italy’s state-backed financial institutions, including Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), SACE and SIMEST, to support Italian businesses seeking to invest in Uganda.
Italy’s development cooperation agency, AICS, opened an office in Kampala in 2025 and identifies Uganda as a priority country for cooperation in health, education, agriculture and environmental conservation.
Nabbanja assured investors that their capital and profits would be protected by law, adding that her office would intervene where investors encountered obstacles in dealing with government agencies.
Uganda promises 14 per cent returns
Dr Robert Mukiza, the Director General of the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), told the forum that investors could earn returns of up to 14 per cent on their investments in Uganda, describing the prospect as rare in the global market.
He said Africa’s population was projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, with about 1.1 billion people expected to belong to the middle class.
Dr Mukiza urged Italian businesses to use Uganda as a base for accessing markets across the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“The most important market in the world, whether you want it or not, is Africa. You better get there now, and serve Africa from Uganda,” he said.
He said the UIA’s one-stop centre, established under the Investment Code Act, 2019, brings together services such as business registration, tax identification, environmental certification, building permits, work permits and banking to simplify the investment process.
Dr Mukiza compared the authority’s role to that of a duck gliding on water, with its feet constantly moving beneath the surface to keep it going.
“The feet are always flapping. Those feet are the Uganda Investment Authority, such that you as a business continue to glide smoothly,” he said.
He said investors who add value to Ugandan products could access free serviced land in industrial parks, a 10-year tax holiday, tax-free imports of plant and machinery, and tax deductions for research and staff training.
The authority’s aftercare division also supports companies beyond the licensing stage, he added.
Dr Mukiza called on Italian financiers to invest in electricity generation and transmission, lower the cost of capital and help reduce the risks associated with investing in Uganda.
Coffee, fish and cocoa processing
Hez Kimoomi Alinda, the Executive Director of the Uganda Free Zones and Export Promotion Authority (UFZEPA), said investors operating in Uganda’s special economic zones would find incentives comparable to those available in Italy.
He said trade between the two countries remained limited, with Italy mainly using Uganda’s high-grade robusta coffee to blend with coffee sourced from Brazil and other countries.
Ugandan fish accounts for only two per cent of Italy’s fish imports, he said, while the country also exports unroasted cocoa beans instead of finished cocoa products.
Alinda urged Italian companies to establish factories in Uganda to produce cocoa butter, cocoa liquor and chocolate.
He identified fresh fruits and vegetables, vanilla, tea, spices, dairy products, aquaculture, cold-chain facilities, packaging, information technology-enabled services and tourism as other areas with investment potential.
He said the European Union was a major market for Ugandan fresh produce, but the country lacked sufficient testing laboratories to meet export standards.
Alinda invited Italian investors to establish such facilities and develop supply chains linking Ugandan producers to European markets.
“Come to Uganda, aggregate our fresh fruits and vegetables and open a distribution chain in Italy. Nobody will compete with you,” he said.
He also offered Italian investors a free 1,031-square-metre production facility in Entebbe for value addition targeting the Italian and wider European Union markets.
Oil, gas and mineral processing
Humphrey Asiimwe, the Chief Executive of the Uganda Chamber of Energy and Minerals, invited Italian companies to invest in energy, oil and gas, and mining.
He said Uganda had 58 known minerals, 23 of which were commercially viable, including graphite, tin, tungsten and rare earth elements used in the energy transition.
He cited ongoing graphite mining by a British company at Orom in northern Uganda and the development of heavy rare earth projects by an Australian firm in eastern Uganda.
“Uganda is at the precipice of first oil,” Asiimwe said.
He said the country expected to announce its first barrel of Pearl Sweet crude oil on the international market in the coming months, creating opportunities in refining, petrochemicals, fertiliser production and pipeline services.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development had also opened new areas for oil exploration, he added.
Asiimwe said Uganda currently generated about 2,100 megawatts of electricity, with hydropower accounting for 95 per cent of production.
He said private investors could participate in electricity generation, transmission, distribution and battery storage, including through power transmission links connected to the East African Power Pool.
He also called for investment in expanding electricity infrastructure to support industrialisation.
On mineral processing, Mr Asiimwe said Uganda did not allow the export of mineral ores or concentrates because the government wanted more value addition to take place locally.
Gold, Uganda’s biggest export, is refined locally to 99.98 per cent purity, he said, adding that mining licences were managed through an online cadastre system.
He further said mining investors were exempt from value-added tax on raw materials.
A video presentation by the Uganda National Oil Company showcased the 29-square-kilometre Kabalega Industrial Park near Lake Albert.
The park is being developed around a planned oil refinery with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day. It is projected to contribute nearly $5 billion annually to Uganda’s gross domestic product and create more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Uganda–Italy ties
Uganda’s Ambassador to Italy, Elizabeth Paula Napeyok, said the two countries wanted to move their relationship beyond diplomacy towards stronger commercial cooperation.
“We would like to see the relationship graduating from only diplomatic matters to trade and investment,” she said.
Dr Fabrizio Lobasso, an official from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said Italy was interested in joint ventures in Uganda rather than trade based solely on exports.
He said cooperation could include technology transfer, skills development and digitalisation, adding that an Italian foreign ministry delegation was expected to visit Uganda in early November.
“This morning I had my espresso, and inside the cup I didn’t see only coffee. I see the commitment of Ugandan farmers,” Dr Lobasso said.
Giorgio Traietti, a board member of Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo, said Italian companies viewed Uganda as a gateway to the East African market.
He said the association would follow up with the Uganda Investment Authority, the Uganda Chamber of Energy and Minerals, and UFZEPA to explore investment opportunities.
The forum is part of Uganda’s broader effort to attract foreign capital, promote local manufacturing and increase the value of its exports as the government pursues its long-term economic growth targets.
