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Doing Business in Uganda
 

President Obama announced the National Export Initiative (NEI) two years ago, with the goal of doubling exports by 2014. U.S. embassies are committed to supporting U.S. companies to start exporting or grow their exports to Uganda. In this section, you’ll find a quick description of Uganda as an export market and some suggestions for getting started.

The Economic and Commercial Section at the U.S. Mission in Kampala aims to promote American trade and investment interests, encourage U.S. exports, and level the playing field for all businesses by advocating for open markets, free trade, and predictability and transparency in the regulatory environment.  For a fee, the section will also conduct partner searches, perform company profiles and carry out other services upon request by U.S. firms.  The Embassy is eager to assist Ugandan businesses and individuals seeking to identify U.S. suppliers of goods and services and works to help Ugandan firms take advantage of the duty free preferences available through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
 
Below are a range of useful economic and commercial resources:

Commercial Guides:  U.S. firms trading or investing in Uganda are highly encouraged to read "Doing Business in Uganda: A Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies," prior to undertaking any business venture in the country. Updated annually, the guide provides a comprehensive overview of doing business in Uganda, and includes a wide range of information on the Ugandan investment climate, sectors of opportunity, regulatory developments, and statistics on Ugandan trade, investment and the economy.  Investors will also find the U.S. Mission's Investment Climate Statement for Uganda a useful guide when making decisions during or prior to investing in the country.

American Chamber of Commerce in Uganda:  The U.S. business community in Uganda established an American Chamber of Commerce on December 2, 2008, and is now accepting applications. For more information please visits

U.S. Government Agencies: The U.S. Government provides a range of commercial services for businesses operating in Africa.  These services include the provision of financing and loan guarantees through Ex-Im Bank, investment financing to U.S. businesses through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and other private sector assistance via the United States Agency for International Development.

Doing Business with USAID: USAID conducts competition for contracts, grants and cooperative agreements to find the most qualified implementing partners for USAID/Uganda's development assistance programs at the best value to the US Government. An implementing partner can be a U.S. or local non-governmental organization (NGO), commercial organization, an individual, or a public international organization.  We are committed to building sustainable Ugandan local capacity by implementing our programs wherever possible through Ugandan NGOs and private sector and with the Government of Uganda.  Our programs are guided by our strategies which support the Government of Uganda to achieve a number of joint objectives.  Please find our major strategic documents below.  For more information about upcoming acquisition and assistance opportunities, please visit the fedbizopps website for acquisition opportunities and the grants site for assistance opportunities.

Potential investors: Getting Started.
If you are considering investment in Uganda, here are some steps you may wish to consider as you get started:

Do Market Research: Below are links to documents and other resources which will help you with your market research.

Documents

Visit Uganda Country Resources

Visit local U.S. business support organisations

 

• Register with the U.S. Embassy –
If you are active in Uganda, let us know by sending an email to the contact addresses on this page.

• Add us to your mailing lists – we are always happy to stay informed

• Subscribe to our embassy Facebook page or Twitter feed

• Set up a meeting with our economic or commercial team to discuss any issues that arise
 
Working in Uganda
Business Visas

For information on obtaining a visa to visit Uganda, visit the http://www.aboutuganda.com/visa.html

Travel Advisories
Make sure to check the current State Department travel advisory for Uganda.

FCPA
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is an important anti-corruption tool designed to discourage corrupt business practices in favor of free and fair markets.  The FCPA prohibits promising, offering, giving or authorizing giving anything of value to a foreign government official where the purpose is to obtain or retain business.  These prohibitions apply to U.S. persons, both individuals and companies, and companies that are listed on U.S. exchanges. The statute also requires companies publicly traded in the U.S. to keep accurate books and records and implement appropriate internal controls.  

More information on the FCPA can be found here.

A party to a transaction seeking to know whether a proposed course of conduct would violate the FCPA can take advantage of the opinion procedure established by the statue.  Within 30 days of receiving a description of a proposed course of conduct in writing, the Attorney General will provide the party with a written opinion on whether the proposed conduct would violate the FCPA.  Not only do opinions provide the requesting party with a rebuttable presumption that the conduct does not violate the FCPA, but DOJ publishes past opinions which can provide guidance for other companies facing similar situations.

More information on the DOJ opinion procedure can be found here.

Contact us
Embassy phone: (256) 414 306001
Embassy fax: (256) 414 259794
Email: CommercialKampala@state.gov

Economic/Commercial Officer:
Ruth H Gallant gallantrh@state.gov