The Uganda Free Zones Authority (UFZA) has signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Trademark East Africa (TMEA) to guide the formation of an investment, trade and logistics hub in Jinja District as well as promote collaboration between the two organisations. The logistics hub in Jinja is expected to boost economic growth, create employment and contribute towards sustainable and inclusive prosperity of the region by promoting the reduction of trade barriers and ensuring improved business competitiveness. Read more. Source | Daily Monitor

Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has called for actualisation of policy prescriptions such as the action plan on Economic Diplomacy by the ministry of Foreign Affairs and ministry of Trade’s National Export Development Strategy to help more Ugandan firms expand business abroad. These policies, UCDA’s market intelligence manager James Kizito, told Daily Monitor have a component of increasing Uganda’s exports with an emphasis on value added exports and service exports. Read more. Source | Daily Monitor

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Tanzania’s President John Pombe Magufuli will today officially launch the $12 million (Shs43.8 billion) Mutukula One Stop Border post (OSBP) facility that is aimed at reducing the cost of doing business. The United Kingdom’s Development for International Development (DFID) funded the infrastructure component while the Canadian development agency and Global Affairs financed the operationalization of facility through Trademark East Africa. The OSBP is a “one stop” form of border crossing point jointly managed by neighboring countries and where activities are streamlined to maximise efficiency. Read more. Source | Daily Monitor

Ministry of Trade has urged clearing agents and traders to embrace the Uganda Electronic Single Window System in order to speed up trade and customs clearance activities for goods and services. The electronic single window, launched in 2016 by the ministry, is an online trade facilitation government initiative that, among others, enables international cross- border trade.  Through the system, traders are able to electronically submit their documents and information for clearance and certification to various government and regulatory agencies from a single location. Read more. Source | Daily Monitor

The Ugandan economy is not yet technology driven, but there are several innovations in the country that continue to show a future where technology is a major player. Notably, the innovations around Fin-Techs have completely transformed the banking sector and exchange of goods. In banking, the rise of mobile money has led to banks innovating products that reduce queues in banking halls. The innovation ecosystem continues to grow and this shows in the entries made into awards. At least 45 innovations are targeting Shs92.7m to win the MTN Innovation Awards 2017. Read more. Source | Daily Monitor

Brainchild Burson-Marsteller has announced its Shs400m project to stimulate innovation in business and service delivery. The project dubbed “innovation series” is a pack of leadership events to be held in Kampala three times a year.  “Through the innovation series, we seek to bridge the current innovation gap in the country by inspiring business owners to invent and seek new solutions to their challenges and those of their customers,” Brainchild Burson-Marsteller business unit head Walter Wafula told guests on Monday in Kampala. Read more. Source | Daily Monitor

Uganda has outlined strategies geared at enabling the country tap into the growing the regional food market. According to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, food crops where Uganda has a comparative advantage over others and can be marketed in the East African Community (EAC) will be prioritised. Okasaai Opolot, the director crop resources at the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, the move will help position Uganda as a regional food basket. Food crops, including maize, rice, beans, bananas, and cassava, which are mainly consumed in the region, have so far been identified under this strategy. “We are looking at staple foods because Uganda is privileged to be having two rainy seasons that favour the production of the selected crops which makes it a regional food basket,” Opolot said. Read more. Source | New Times

The new boards of directors for the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has been tasked to improve coffee exports so as to enable the country achieve its target of exporting 20 million bags of coffee by 2020. While officiating at the inauguration ceremony of the 8th UCDA board of directors in Kampala on Wednesday, state minister for agriculture Christopher Kibanzanga urged them to promote production across the value chain since it is one of the priority crops meant to spur the country to middle income status. “In the financial year 2016/17, Uganda earned more than $489m from only 4.2 million bags of coffee exported which we last earned in 1979. This shows that with more efforts invested, we shall hit the 2020 target,” he said.  Read more. Source | Daily Monitor