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Uganda

Uganda has one of the fastest-growing populations in the world and is likely to triple by 2050. Uganda recently elevated seven municipalities to city status, thus predicting a surge in the annual rate of urbanisation, currently at 5.7%. The anticipated increase in rural-urban migration is caused by the search for employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. New employment opportunities are likely to be created in the construction, hospitality, agribusiness, and tourism sectors. Despite the great opportunities associated with the population boom, several challenges lie ahead, like income inequality and food insecurity.
   
Uganda hosts more than 1.38 million refugees who fled from neighbouring countries due to political instability. This presents several opportunities as well as challenges in terms of labour force integration, settlement, among others.  

For the past 35 years, Uganda has made gains that contributed significantly to economic growth.  Relative political stability, infrastructural development, increased regional trade, and tourist influxes have stimulated growth. However, these gains have not accorded the country its desired status. Presently, Uganda is focussed on reinforcing livelihoods, employment (particularly for youth) and industrial rejuvenation to achieve middle-income status. Just recently, the oil and gas sector became the newest opportunity for Uganda and is envisioned to further contribute to economic growth.
Uganda

Swisscontact in Uganda

  • since 1997

Figures

  • Area: 241,599 km2
  • Population: 35 million
  • Capital: Kampala

Projects

View all projects from Uganda
Uganda
Green cities, Sustainable agriculture
Climate-smart Jobs
The project aims to address the impact of climate change on smallholder farmers in Northern Uganda by promoting sustainable agricultural practices and innovations, supporting the growth of climate-friendly agribusinesses and creating climate-smart jobs in agriculture.
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Bangladesh, Uganda, Cambodia
Trade
Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation
The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation is a public-private partnership for trade-led growth, supporting governments in developing and least-developed countries in implementing the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. By bringing together governments and businesses of all sizes as equal partners to deliver targeted trade reforms, the Alliance cuts through red tape and end costly delays at borders. 
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Uganda
Sustainable agriculture, Entrepreneurial ecosystems
Building Resilience through Market-led Livelihood Opportunities (Uthabiti)
The project will enable access to off-farm income-generating opportunities for refugee settlers and their host communities, reducing their dependence on humanitarian aid while encouraging self-reliance from the market-ready participants.
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Uganda
Sustainable agriculture
Dynamic Markets for Farmers - Sustainable Cocoa and Honey
The project supports smallholder farmers in the cocoa and honey value chains by facilitating their access to extension services and markets, and by enabling them to improve their knowledge and skills.
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News

View all news from Uganda
Uganda
Trade
23.06.2023
RUSH in Uganda shares insights on process data to improve sanitary and phytosanitary function for horticultural exports
On 28 April 2023 Swisscontact and the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GATF) held the Re-engineering of Uganda's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Inspection of Horticulture Exports (RUSH) Project team held a half-day workshop with over 30 exporters and public sector officials.
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Uganda
Trade
14.06.2023
Streamlining export processes of horticulture products
Removing barriers in cross-border trade boosts export volumes, improves transparency in inspections, and reduces operational costs, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises. Together with the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, Swisscontact in Uganda enables businesses to trade more easily thanks to optimised customs processing and modernised trading procedures.
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Uganda
30.03.2023
Swisscontact reinforces its commitment to fostering increased private sector engagement in refugee areas
On the 23rd of February 2023, the Livelihoods and Resilience Sector Working Group (LRSWG), a partnership hosted by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), organized a private-sector engagement event to reflect on the evolving private-sector engagement and experiences in refugee areas, challenges, and emerging opportunities. The workshop was also aimed at initiating dialogue between private sector players, policymakers, development and humanitarian actors on fostering increased private sector engagement in the refugee space.
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Country Director Uganda
Pavlos Troulis

APPROACH

For over 20 years, Swisscontact has been working in Uganda to improve youth competencies, increase employability, enterprise competitiveness, and promote inclusive social and economic systems. Swisscontact leverages the Inclusive Market (IM) systems approach through partnerships with the public and private sectors. Swisscontact plays a facilitator role in developing and implementing sustainable solutions that address the underlying causes of poverty. 

Swisscontact Uganda has four strategic priorities. These are: 

  1. Agribusiness/agriculture development, with a holistic focus on food systems including food security
  2. Skills development with a focus on the youth
  3. Diversification into trade facilitation, migration, tourism and construction
  4. Advisory/capacity building service

These strategic priorities embody the sustainability criteria of gender equality and social inclusion, financial capability, environmental responsibility, and good governance. 

Over the years, Swisscontact Uganda has reached over 70,000 direct beneficiaries (25,000 women), with over 50,000 (16,000 women) employed/earning an income worth circa CHF 10.7 million.

Services

In Uganda, Swisscontact has over 20 years of experience, with a footprint in over 70 districts. We provide services in project management, enterprise promotion, skills development, financial inclusion, trade facilitation, market linkages, capacity building and advice.

Project Management

Swisscontact has an impressive track record in developing and implementing projects. Our projects take a holistic and systemic view of the issues and the local context in addition to actively promoting private sector engagement, a learning culture, and evidence-based adaptive management. In all Swisscontact projects, we value the people we work with while fostering accountability and transparency.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development

We provide value chain advice, enterprise development and facilitate the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Skills Development

We facilitate access to market and demand-led technical and soft skills to address the mismatch of the labour force and the labour market. Through collaboration with private sector employers and other key stakeholders, we design appropriate skills development, skills upgrading and labour market insertion interventions. We offer support to school dropouts and those with limited access to formal skills acquisition and development opportunities.

Financial Inclusion

We develop adaptable financial products to address the bottlenecks that hinder marginalized groups like youth, women, smallholder farmers and startups from accessing financing. Through financial literacy, we seek to increase the knowledge of individuals, so they make sound financial decisions.

Trade Facilitation and Market Linkages

We co-create and facilitate local, regional, and international business partnerships while promoting win-win propositions where roles are delineated, and benefit is mutual for all parties involved. We do this by creating business linkages between market actors, facilitating access to business development services, and providing institutional support to trade organizations, SMEs, and the Government.

Capacity Building and Advisory Services

The essence of inclusive markets development is enabling local stakeholders to take direct ownership of development. We build the capacities of project implementers, researchers, businesses, and the public sector to strengthen competencies for developing and implementing inclusive market development interventions.

Jobs
Motivated and productive employees with initiative constitute the most important success factor in all areas of our work. We count on individuals who are looking to the future, impact- and team-oriented, and want to work in international development cooperation.
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Our Partners
Swisscontact Uganda has been successfully working with the partners below to implement projects.
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Country Profile

Swisscontact Country Profile, Uganda 2021
10 MB

Regional Reports Central, East and Southern Africa

Regional Report Central, East and Southern Africa 2021/2022
28 MB
Regional Report Video 2020/2021
Regional Report Central, East and Southern Africa 2020
17 MB
Regional Report Central, East and Southern Africa 2019
5 MB
Regional Report Central, East and Southern Africa 2018
7 MB

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Contact

Swisscontact Uganda

19/20 Off Martyr's Way Ntinda
P.O. Box 21153
Kampala

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+256 0 414 222 431