The Minister of Trade Industry and Cooperatives Uganda, Amelia Kyambadde, has commended Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) for the good job towards improving the face of tax administration in Uganda.

The minister said Wednesday while officially opening Tax Payers’ Appreciation Month (August 27-September 27, 2019) at Kololo Independence under the theme ‘Every Taxpayer Counts’ recognizing every taxpayer irrespective of status, who have made a contribution to the development of Uganda.

 “I appreciate URA for this gesture of rewarding and appreciating taxpayers. It drives a sense of gratitude in the public. I congratulate all the top 1000 complaint small and medium enterprises (SME) taxpayers that are being recognized this month by the tax body. It brings great joy to see the growth and contribution that SMEs are making to Uganda’s economy,” she said.

Kyambadde said SMEs have a number of challenges and a number of them don’t live to see their third anniversary and promised to help them in a number of ways including access to affordable finance.

SMEs are essential drivers of economic and social wellbeing in our society. They represent 90 per cent of Uganda’s private sector, account for at least 45 per cent of Uganda’s labour force and contribute 20 per cent of Uganda’s gross domestic product.

In her remarks, the Commissioner General of URA, Doris Akol, said Every September, they celebrate and recognize taxpayers who consistently make an effort to grow their businesses year on year to honor their civic obligation to the revenue basket in a way that is commensurate to this growth.

“Our focus this year is the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), for the exceptional yet underappreciated role they play in advancing Uganda’s economic growth.” She noted

SMEs face barriers in accessing strategic resources such as skills, information and access to finance. The bottlenecks have an effect on the ability of the SMEs to blossom and make an even more significant contribution to the revenue basket.

“It is against this background that as URA we are doing our part in improving the business environment for SMEs because we recognize their potential that it is critical to the domestic resource mobilization agenda of Uganda.”

She said SMEs are even more important for their contribution to employment, economic growth, innovations and the diversity of competition they bring to the markets. SMEs guarantee inclusiveness and sustainable economic growth.

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Leading coffee roasters and traders days ago signed an historic declaration on the economic sustainability of the world coffee sector, following the first edition of the CEO and Global Leaders Forum organized by the International Coffee Organization (ICO) in response to Resolution 465 on Coffee Price Levels adopted by the International Coffee Council in September 2018.

Sitting as a special session of the ICO’s Private Sector Consultative Board, the Forum marked the sixth consultative event in the structured sector-wide dialogue led by the ICO – the main intergovernmental organization for coffee – to address the coffee price crisis and long-term sustainability of the coffee sector.

That was the first time that major private sector actors across the coffee value chain have come together to agree to jointly implement solutions in a spirit of shared responsibility, thereby contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations.

To date the following private sector representatives have signed a Declaration of Intent to commit to concrete shared and individual time-bound actions, illycaffè, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), Lavazza, Mercon, Nestlé, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, Olam, Starbucks, Sucafina, Tchibo and Volcafe. The Declaration is also supported by the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Producers (CLAC), Fairtrade International, Global Coffee Platform, Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung, IDH the Sustainable Trade Initiative, National Coffee Association of USA, Oikocredit, Rainforest Alliance, Rusteacoffee, Specialty Coffee Association and the Sustainable Coffee Challenge.

Referred to as the London Declaration, all signatories and supporting organisations commit to taking action focusing on four themes: promoting competitive and sustainable production; fostering responsible and equitable growth; promoting responsible consumption; and promoting public-private dialogue regarding policy development. Also set out is a further commitment to take immediate action before the next meeting of the CEO and Global Leaders Forum towards implementing the actions set forth in the Declaration, to establish market and supply chain information systems, to actively participate in national dialogues and to promote the allocation of resources.

In addition to calling on all coffee sector stakeholders, development partners and governments of all countries to take individual actions, the signatories specifically request the International Coffee Council to endorse this Declaration and to instruct the ICO to continue its efforts to mobilize stronger political support and resources from multilateral mechanisms, international organizations and the private sector to address the short- and long-term sustainability of the coffee sector. The London Declaration will now be considered at the 125th Session of the International Coffee Council meeting later this week.

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The fourth edition of the Africa Risk-Reward Index from specialist global risk consultancy Control Risks and independent global advisory firm Oxford Economics has been released today. The report offers a comprehensive and up-to-date view of the highly-dynamic business investment landscape in Africa. The respected index tracks the evolution of the investment landscape in major African markets, and this year’s edition marks several important and intriguing trends that impact investment strategy across the continent.

The benchmark research recognises that elections in African markets can often fuel tensions and raise investment concerns. However, it also demonstrates how elections increasingly serve to stabilise Africa’s evolving political landscape. It is crucial to identify how elections can end prolonged uncertainty, provide legitimacy, and empower existing or new African leaders with the mandates required to push forward with reform or counter-reform agendas.

“Do not get carried away by enthusiastic reform promises by assuming that reform-minded ‘strong-man’ leaders can push their way through free of any constraints,” Barnaby Fletcher, Associate Director Analyst at Control Risks, warns. “The real political lesson of recent years is to not underestimate the strength of counter-reform efforts by existing political structures, as well as the complexity of the undertaking,” he explains.

African investment has traditionally been dominated by its big economies but the long-awaited emergence of intercontinental trade blocs is shifting the balance of power. The paper explores the huge potential significance of introduction of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in late May, while raising some concerns about its implementation. It also analyses the significant progress made by regional blocs such as the strengthening East African Community (EAC).

“The current edition of the index shows a slight increase in reward scores for some of the continent’s largest economies, including Nigeria, Angola, and Egypt, as the economic recoveries in these giants gain traction. However, the highest reward potential remains centred in the East Africa region, with expanding services and infrastructure development boosting demand and improving business environments,” says Jacques Nel, Chief Economist Southern & East Africa of Oxford Economics.

The comprehensive paper also tackles common misinterpretations of the external influences affecting African economies. Africa is no longer an even battlefield for US and Chinese players as commonly thought. Current US-Africa totals USD 39bn, while China-Africa represents more than USD 200bn, and EU-Africa trade is now over USD 300bn according to data revealed in the paper. The research also notes a surge of interest in Africa from smaller geopolitical players such as Russia, the Gulf states, Turkey, and India.

“The standard narrative of US-China rivalry in Africa had always looked like an over-simplification, but is certainly outdated now. China’s engagement with Africa is undergoing a fundamental shift, the US is playing catch-up, and a host of other countries are seeking to expand their influence in an increasingly multipolar landscape,” explains Barnaby Fletcher, Associate Director at Control Risks. “Geopolitical objectives are being supported by a flood of development finance, creating both opportunity and competition for private-sector players.”

Africa remains a desirable investment destination with a young and increasingly urban demographic, a wealth of natural resources, and a proven ability to leapfrog technologies in areas such as telecommunications or finance. The growing competition for investment across the continent is helping to promote reform, which in turn encourages greater investment. In Africa, diversification increasingly equals success and economies can no longer rely on merely holding the most mineral resources.

“Especially at a time of a trade war, which threatens to further depress Chinese demand for commodities and global demand for oil and gas, dependence on raw commodities exports is a serious weakness for an economy. It is for this reason that governments are competing to attract investment capital and firms in order to grow their manufacturing and services sectors, to supply goods and services to the many millions of Africans moving to the continent’s cities,” says François Conradie, Head of Africa Research at Oxford Economics.

For the less experienced investor in Africa, the index offers a comparative snapshot of market opportunities and risks across the continent – offering critical information for market entry strategies. For the more seasoned Africa investor, the index provides a grounded, longer-term outlook of key trends shaping the investment landscape in major African economies. The Africa Risk-Reward Index goes beyond the headline-grabbing news and noise surrounding the topic to provide an informed view on investment into Africa.

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