Uganda to open EA’s largest organic fertilizer in Tororo

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Sitting on a 600-acre piece of land, the Guangzhou Dongsong Energy Group-owned industrial complex in Tororo District, will produce about 300,000 tonnes of organic fertilisers annually, making it the biggest organic fertiliser plant in East Africa. Ms Jane Guo, the group chief executive officer, said the fertiliser production section will be launched on October 9 with the firm expected to roll out full production in June next year.

“We are on course. Different sections have been given to different contractors and so far the progress is good. ,” she said during a press briefing.

The fertilisers, she said, are designed specifically for Ugandan soils to boost agriculture in the country.

Chemical fertilisers

Uganda imports approximately 100,000 tonnes of chemical fertilisers annually, which Ms Guo says, is dangerous to the soils. Apart from the fertilisers, the factory will also manufacture construction materials such as steel, glass and unbaked bricks.

The fertiliser factory, when completed, will mark years of controversy, corruption and bribery allegations that dogged the process of awarding the company mining rights.

Inspector-General of Government Justice Irene Mulyagonja had previously investigated the company over allegations of fraud, bribery and outright corruption.

However, the IGG later dropped the investigations paving way for the construction of the $650 million investment. Construction work is already going on at the industrial park, with the first batch of equipment expected in the country for installation late this month.

According to Ms Guo, work should have been completed by March. However, there have been delays due to rigorous testing procedures of new technology and failure to secure financing in time.

Source: The EastAfrican

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REPORT: Tanzania losing out on intra-Africa trade

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Intra-African trade is estimated to have amounted to $371 billion last year, but Tanzania was not among the major beneficiaries, a new report suggests.

According to the Africa Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) report, Tanzania is among five countries that registered steep declines in their trading with the rest of the continent last year. Others are Mali, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Gambia and Libya, which collectively account for around 11 per cent of total intra-African trade.

The Afreximbank’s African Trade Report 2018: Boosting Intra-African Trade – Implications of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) says these economies registered steep declines in trading with their peers, which averaged over 20 per cent.

“The champions of intra-African trade remained largely the same in 2017 as in 2016, with South Africa, Namibia and Nigeria contributing over 35 per cent of intra-African trade. This compares with ten other countries – Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, DRC, Mozambique and Kenya, Morocco and Ghana – which also account for 35 per cent of intra-African trade,” reads the report.

Source: IPP Media

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FROM THE FIELD: Weather Reports Come to Aid of Uganda’s Farmers

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Farmers in Uganda are facing increasingly erratic climatic conditions which are impacting on agricultural production.

Farmers in Uganda are keeping their crop yields high, thanks to improved weather data supplied by the UN Development Programme (UNDP)-backed push to modernize climate monitoring systems.

The majority of farmers in the East African country rely on rain to grow crops, but as that rainfall becomes less reliable and drought conditions increase, agricultural production has suffered.

These changing weather patterns across the region are testing age-old farming practices, and making it harder for some growers to make a living and feed their families.

The Government of Uganda has responded by embarking on an ambitious plan to revolutionize its weather, water, and climate monitoring systems in order to provide farmers with better information about growing conditions.

It’s hoped the initiative will help build resilience when rainfall fails to arrive.

Click here to see exactly how the climate information is helping Ugandan farmers.

Source: UN News

Source: UN Africa Renewal

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20 Cooperatives that participated in the #PlantACoopTree competition that started in April 2017 undergo evaluation in search of the three winning teams.

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#PlantACoopTree Competition

#PlantACoopTree Competition judges are out in the districts evaluating the competitors and identifying the winners. The competition is part of the Uhuru Institute’s Coop360 Initiative which amongst other things is looking at increasing cooperative investments in green business for sustainable societies.

20 cooperatives in 20 districts and various sectors voluntarily participated in the tree planting competition.The competitors are expected to have raised the 500 grevellia seedlings provided by the promoter and organiser The Uhuru Institute for Social Development.

The judges comprise of a team of 5 including the DFO, DCO, a conservation scientist and the Uhuru Staff in charge of Green business development.

The winner will be awarded a peer to peer learning visit to a progressive cooperative within the East African region, helped with shaping relevant Organisation
Development policies and a 5 day training of members.

The first runner up will benefit from Organisational Development policies and a training of members and finally the second runner up will be awarded with a 1 week’s training of members in a number of areas that will nudge the cooperative towards business success.

The Uhuru Institute Launches Piki-Credit for Boda-Boda Cooperatives

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The Uhuru Institute for Social Development, through its Freedom Fund Enterprise has launched Piki-Credit, a Boda-boda credit facility aimed at providing flexible credit facilities to Cooperatives. The loan is payable in approximately 16 months only. With an initial deposit of only 500,000 Shillings, a member of a Boda-boda Cooperative can own a motorcycle and start the journey to financial freedom. The first beneficiary of Piki-Credit is the Kampala Civic Center Boda-boda Transporters Cooperative Society (KCCBT). Established in 2013, KCCBT is one of the most properly structured Boda-boda cooperatives. The cooperative has 79 members.

The objective of Piki-Credit is to ensure holistic empowerment of the Boda-boda business community. Whereas the loan guarantees ownership of a motorbike, and therefore a source of livelihood, membership to a Cooperative Society comes with added advantages such as training in: road safety, book keeping, corporate governance, tax filing, and personal financial literacy among others. The biggest impediment to the existence of Boda-bodas is the public perception that they are perpetrators of lawlessness and high risk of accidents in the city. Therefore, trainings from Cooperatives instill in the cyclists a sense of discipline and order thereby promoting responsible Boda-boda business. More so, Cooperatives provide leadership opportunities, earnings from dividends, and bigger opportunities for business growth, among other benefits. Speaking to the leaders of KCCBT at a recent function, Leonard Okello, CEO of The Uhuru Institute had this to say, “KCCBT cyclists should expand their business beyond merely providing commuter transport services. They should explore opportunities in courier services, produce marketing, mechanical services, real estate, to take their business to the next level.”

The Boda-boda business in Kampala is lucrative. The influx of people in the city and the resultant heavy traffic has posed a challenge in transportation. People spend hours trapped in endless traffic, arriving late at their destinations. Boda-bodas motorcycles provide an efficient solution to the transport crisis because of their ability to navigate easily through traffic and access remote areas.  Boda-boda cyclists earn a decent living, on average 60,000 Shillings per day. The sector employs about 1,600,000 people, approximately 7% of Uganda’s population.

However, acquisition of the motorbikes is a challenge. Many cyclists lack the requisite collateral to acquire loans. Moreover, many of the loans attract high interest rates and come with stringent repayment policies that many cyclists cannot adhere to. The alternative is for the cyclists to rent motorcycles and pay 60,000 Shillings weekly, to the owners. This option comes with restrictions and reduces the cyclist’s income. Piki-Credit, provides a viable solution to the improvement of Boda-bodas business.

Written by Nancy Akullo

Ministry of Trade and The Uhuru Institute Sign MoU to Promote Agribusiness Productivity among Cooperatives & Citizen Collectives

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Promote Agribusiness Productivity among Cooperatives & Citizen Collectives

L-R: Amb. Julius Onen (Permanent Secretary at MTIC), Eng. Dunstan Kisuule (TUI Board Chairman) and Leonard Okello (CEO of TUI)

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC), and The Uhuru Institute for Social Development (TUI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance production and productivity in agribusiness, among cooperatives and other citizen collectives.

The use of primitive technologies, subsistence farming, limited knowledge and small scale farm units, and poor access to markets, dilapidated storage structures and exorbitant transport costs, among others, undermine Uganda’s potential for productivity.

MTIC and TUI, therefore pledge to support cooperatives in the areas of:

  • reconstruction of storage facilities
  • improving access to competitive markets
  • development of collective drying platforms in villages
  • acquisition of food processing technology for value addition
  • access to affordable transport, and competitive markets

While officiating at the MoU signing, Amb. Julius Onen, the Permanent Secretary at MTIC, said, “The basis of development is through collective effort by all citizens”. Ambassador Onen said that the cooperative movement globally has been at the forefront of economic development and Uganda is not an exception. The Ministry of Trade signs MoUs with institutions that have socio-economic development at their core. TUI is one such organization.

Amb. Onen encouraged Ugandans to embrace the cooperative business model. He said that individually, we underutilize our potential, whereas collectively, we can achieve so much. “How can you be rich if you don’t have the culture of working together?” he probed.

Regarding the issue of dormant cooperatives and briefcase cooperatives, Amb. Onen said that the mantle to grow a cooperative lies firstly in the hands of the members. “Coops are formed by 30 like-minded people,” he said. Amb. Onen said cooperatives should attract the right people and these people must take responsibility for developing the cooperative. He said, however, that the Ministry of Trade is working on a vetting framework to avert arising cases of briefcase cooperatives.

Amb. Onen reassured cooperators that the verification process for the compensation for war loss claims, is yet to start, and The Uhuru Institute will be part of the verification team.

The Chairman of the Board of TUI was grateful for the opportunity. “This event is a stepping stone in the revitalization of cooperatives. “We thank the Ministry,” Eng. Dunstan Kisuule said.

The MoU is valid for 3 years, renewable.

PRESS RELEASE !!!! – STATEMENT ON THE RAID OF THE UHURU INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

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PRESS STATEMENT

For Immediate Release

STATEMENT ON THE RAID OF THE UHURU INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

The Uhuru Institute for Social Development a social business that inspires citizens to generate wealth together through the cooperative business model and youth entrepreneurship and leadership learning programs was yesterday raided at 12:45pm by security operations led by Mr. Hilary Nuwahereza from the police CIID office in Kibuli accompanied by plain clothed men and a lady.

Oblivious of what the day would unfold into, the employees were shocked to see the Katalima Crescent Road condoned off and outside the perimeter wall, the police had equally deployed preventing any staff from leaving and visitors from entering the office. The commander of the operations handed over a search warrant obtained from the Chief Magistrate’s court of Kampala at Buganda Road. The search warrant which was addressed to the Operations Director at the Institute, stated that the police had come to search computers, documents, mobile phones, and financial transactions that could enable them investigate reasonable suspicion based on a case reported to them; the search warrant did not state what the police was suspicious about.

The team at the Uhuru institute cooperated while the police combed through the office in an operation that lasted for 7 hours; they searched mainly the finance office and the IT equipment. Without communicating what they had found they took, 13 financial files, various vouchers of mainly dollar transactions, 15 phones of staff and the visitors they found at the office. The police also took with them our employee Francis Lulahali who on their permission, had used one of the office mobile phones that was being used for research to call his mother to inform her that he would be late. After the call he had deleted the call from the office phone which had initially been taken for exhibit and that action was interpreted by the police as suspicious hence his detention. The institute is working closely with our lawyers to free Francis who is currently detained at Kira Road police station.

We inform Ugandans and the world that the statement made by Mr. Vincent Ssekate is false and damaging to the reputation of the institute. It is ironic that the police are suspicious of Uhuru Institute yet recently two MOUs with the Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives as well as the National Forestry Authority were signed with the institute for joint work in cooperative growth and greening Uganda.  The cooperative movement which for a long time had been in slumber has started being active partly due to the work of The Uhuru Institute’s which has been recognized as being the catalyst of the speedy cooperative revival.

The board, directors, staff, cooperators and well-wishers of the Institute condemn this cowardly act intended to interrupt the institute’s Nobel cause of fighting poverty and promoting socio-economic transformation. We demand the immediate release of our staff and the speedy return of all properties confiscated. We are committed to working with young entrepreneurs and cooperatives to drive Uganda to economic freedom, which responsibility lies with all of us.

We pledge to continue with our work and to involve all the relevant stakeholders as we have always done and we believe together we shall grow this country to prosperity.

FOR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY.

For more information, please contact Jane Amuge Okello; The Operations Director at the Uhuru Institute for Social Development on 0414581453.