A section of the Kampala Industrial and Business Park located in Namanve. The park sits on 2,200 acres. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
After 20 years of being gazetted as a signature land for investment, the story of the unending tale of Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP) located in Namanve, is set to change.
Speaking to journalists at the preliminary stakeholder engagement workshop in Kampala yesterday, the Acting Director General of the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), Mr Joseph Kiggundu, said the country has since secured about €215 million loan (about Shs974 billion) meant for the construction of KIBP entire infrastructure.
According to Mr Kiggundu, the loan was sourced from the new UK Export Finance, a UK government financing arm operating under the Department for International Trade.
With funding issues sorted, Mr Kiggundu is hopeful that over the next 42 months (about 3.5 years), the Namanve Industrial Park occupying 2,213 acres of land, will be fully established with the required infrastructures including; properly tarmacked and coordinated transport system, high voltage power supply and guaranteed provision of clean water. This is in addition to setting up proper sewerage management and disposal system and reliable internet connectivity, all of which have been seriously wanting.
“We started off in 2001 with the World Bank funding which came to a halt during the implementation stage and the government had to take up the financing initiative which wasn’t adequate enough because of several competing needs. This explains the challenges we have been having,” Mr Kiggundu told journalists in Kampala during the stakeholders engagement.
He continued: “Recently, we secured funding with UK
Export Finance Group coupled with Standard Chartered UK and we have
kicked off the KIBP project which will be completed in 42 months with
our focus mainly being on infrastructure development in Namanve,
beginning with the roads by end of this month.”
More than 300 companies have been granted licences to operate in the park.
According to the executive director of Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Mr Gideon Badagawa, the facility’s establishment is long overdue.
iladu@ug.nationmedia.com
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