Uganda to Set Up Vehicle Factory in East Africa

Isaac Paul Musasizi, the chief executive officer of state-owned Uganda's Kiira Motors announced that Uganda will invest $263-million vehicle-assembly plant with the view of starting production by 2021, to tap rising demand in the East African region, according to Bloomberg.

Musasizi reported that annual output is initially envisaged at 5,000 vehicles and will reach 150,000 units with the assembly of buses, trucks, pick-ups and sports utility vehicles.

Isaac Paul Musasizi

Later, Musasizi explained that the new motor vehicle will remain as the predominant transportation technology not only in East Africa but globally for the next 50 to 100 years. That is because mass transportation systems, much as they are economically and environmentally efficient, don’t quite address the last mile.

On other hand, Kiira Motors plans to produce sedans on a small scale and is in talks with prospective partners for provision of technology, to take an equity stake or undertake joint ventures.

According to a study by Uganda’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the combined market for passenger and commercial vehicles in its five member nations  Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi could double in the next 13 years to almost 630,000 annually.