KAMPALA — Manufacturers have been urged to strengthen value addition, embrace innovative financing and deepen collaboration across supply chains to unlock growth and improve the competitiveness of Ugandan products in regional and international markets.
The call emerged during Stanbic Bank Uganda’s inaugural Business Forum held in Kampala under the theme, “From Farm to Shelf: Financing Growth Across the Value Chain.”
The forum brought together stakeholders from manufacturing, agribusiness, logistics, finance, and government to explore practical solutions to challenges constraining industrial growth.
Opening the event, Stanbic Bank Executive Head of Business and Commercial Banking Tunde Thorpe said Uganda’s manufacturing sector has strong growth fundamentals, including a vibrant agricultural base, increasing domestic demand and access to regional markets.
“Yet businesses continue to face challenges ranging from high production costs and limited access to suitable financing to dependence on imported inputs and weak linkages across the value chain,” Thorpe said.
He noted that manufacturing contributes between 15 and 16.5 percent of Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while the wider industrial sector accounts for about a quarter of the country’s economic output.
The sector also supports more than one million direct jobs and contributes nearly 30 percent of Uganda’s tax revenues.
“These figures remind us that manufacturing is not just another sector. It is central to Uganda’s growth, resilience and competitiveness,” Thorpe said.
Participants agreed that stronger integration between farmers, processors, manufacturers, distributors and retailers would be critical in creating efficient value chains and increasing value addition, particularly in agro-processing and consumer goods manufacturing.
Patrick Joram Mugisha, the Commissioner for Business Development and Quality Assurance at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, emphasized the need to accelerate industrialisation through increased local processing and manufacturing.
He said expanding domestic production capacity would create jobs, reduce dependence on imports and strengthen Uganda’s position in regional and global markets.
Agrifarm Uganda Limited Managing Director Agnes Mbabazi said access to affordable and appropriately structured financing remains a major challenge for businesses seeking to expand operations, invest in technology and improve productivity.
She commended Stanbic Bank for creating a platform that enables stakeholders to discuss common challenges and identify solutions for sustainable growth.
Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) Director for Policy and Advocacy Allan Ssenyondwa called for innovative financing models, stronger public-private partnerships and supportive government policies to help manufacturers overcome persistent constraints.
Meanwhile, Stanbic Bank Head of Agribusiness Emmanuel Negombye highlighted the growing role of technology, logistics and cross-border trade in strengthening agricultural and manufacturing value chains.
He pointed to the bank’s OneFarm platform as a key initiative connecting farmers, manufacturers and exporters while improving market access and operational efficiency.
“The OneFarm platform is helping strengthen linkages between producers and markets by bringing farmers, manufacturers and exporters into one ecosystem,” Negombye said.
He added that Stanbic continues to support businesses through insurance and risk management solutions designed to protect factories, employees and goods in transit.
In his closing remarks, Stanbic Bank Executive Director Paul Muganwa said the forum was intended to move discussions beyond identifying challenges and focus on practical interventions that can strengthen local production.
“We have seen what is possible when manufacturers scale with ambition and the right support. Roofings Group, for example, has grown from strong local foundations into a major industrial player serving Uganda and the wider region,” Muganwa said.
“Its journey demonstrates the importance of access to the right financing partner, strategic investment and market opportunities.”
Muganwa said Stanbic Bank remains committed to supporting Uganda’s industrialisation agenda as it marks 35 years of operations in the country.
“We see ourselves not simply as a lender, but as a partner for growth, supporting businesses with financing, market insights and the connections needed to move from production to processing, from processing to distribution, and from local success to regional scale,” he said.
The forum forms part of Stanbic’s broader efforts to support enterprise growth and strengthen value chains that are critical to Uganda’s economic transformation.
