At present, about 20,000 Chinese live in Uganda, mainly in Kampala, Jinja and Entebbe. Among them, there are more than 600 Chinese-funded enterprises, and there are about 4,000 employees in Chinese-funded enterprises. Chinese companies in Uganda operate in the energy and mineral development, infrastructure construction, trade, digital television operations, agricultural development, leather processing, footwear and plastics products manufacturing, steel, building materials production and hotels.
Chinese enterprises have invested in the construction of a number of economic and trade cooperation parks in Uganda, including Shandong Industrial Park, Liaoshen Industrial Park, Zhongwumbale Industrial Park, Zhongwu Kehong Agricultural Industrial Park, Wuzheng Agricultural Industrial Park, Tiantang Industrial Park, China-Ukraine Modern Economic Development Special Zone, and Guangzhou EastWard International Production Capacity Cooperation Industrial Park. In addition, the Hunan Industrial Park is under construction.
Chinese investment projects in Uganda include: the production of ceramics, bags, building materials, woven bags, tableware, steel pipes, cables, furniture and many other products.
Trade items: all kinds of daily necessities include clothing, shoes, bags, building materials, home appliances, hardware, lamps, stationery, plastic products, building materials, electrical appliances, automobiles and auto parts and other wholesale.
Chinese currently operates in Uganda: supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, customs clearance companies, logistics companies, vegetable farms, electronic shopping and distribution platforms, etc.
In Uganda, wages are divided into state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, and if it is a central enterprise and other Chinese-funded enterprises, the construction engineer contracted is about 16,000-20,000 yuan, while the construction engineer of private enterprises is about 14,000-18,000 yuan. The monthly salary of workers in Chinese-funded enterprises is about 16,000 yuan.
The salaries of Chinese personnel working in the industrial parks of Chinese-funded enterprises are generally about twice as high as those of their counterparts in China.
At present, in the case of the epidemic, the vast majority of enterprises are more difficult to operate, small profits or even loss-making operations, before the outbreak of the epidemic, such as farms, hotels, restaurants a year profit of hundreds of thousands of yuan. The larger ones do well in profits of about a few million yuan.
Uganda is relatively investor-friendly and the business environment is constantly improving, but Uganda itself has a relatively small market and needs to control the scale of investment.
Ugandan locals are not very reputable, and some Chinese also have credibility problems, so we must be cautious when going to Uganda for investment and trade.
The main competitors of Chinese enterprises are local Indian and Pakistani businessmen, who enter Uganda relatively early, enter Ugandan nationality, integrate into the local society, and enjoy the business treatment of local people, such as retail. Indian and Pakistani businessmen have mastered the retail channels of major commodities and have a high market share in the fields of finance, medicine, steel, and power equipment.
Located in eastern Africa, Uganda is a landlocked country across the equator, bordering five countries: South Sudan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Tanzania. The land area is 241,500 square kilometers, of which the land area is 199,800 square kilometers, and the water surface and swamp land are 41,700 square kilometers. Uganda's national population is about 44.3 million in 2021, with the capital Kampala.
Ugandan currency is shilling and is freely convertible.
From January to October 2021, the bilateral import and export volume of goods between China and Uganda was US$844.74 million, of which the total value of China's exports to Uganda was US$808.14 million, and the total value of China's imports from Uganda was US$36.6 million.
The main commodity categories of China's exports to Uganda include: 1. electrical machinery; 2 medical equipment; 3. electrical equipment, home appliances; 4. footwear; 5. pharmaceuticals; 6. on-off protection circuit devices and parts; 7. textile yarns, fabrics and products.
The main commodity categories imported by China from Uganda include: 1. leather; 2. oilseeds; 3 coffee, tea, spices; 4. aquatic and marine products; 5. plants, flowers; 6 ores, slag.
Uganda has a huge gap between rich and poor, with a population of 44 million, but more than 35% of the population lives in extreme poverty and has little purchasing power. The number of rich and middle-class people is small, so the goods sold in the local market are mainly low-end and middle-grade.
The political situation in Uganda is relatively stable, but the security situation has deteriorated to a certain extent. There have been a series of robbery and homicide cases in Uganda, and incidents of robbery involving Chinese-funded enterprises have also occurred from time to time.
With a GDP per capita of $817 and a total GDP of $37.372 billion in 2020, Uganda is one of the least developed countries in the world. The average worker's salary is about 800-1000 yuan.
Reference: Guide to investment cooperation written by the Chinese Economic and Commercial Office in Uganda
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