Team Lead at Mobility Bureau, Allan Muhumuza, emphasised the critical role of innovation and e-mobility in shaping Uganda's economic future
Speaking during Spotlight Uganda hosted by NBS Television on Monday held under the theme: "Innovating for Impact: Building Uganda's new economy through science, technology & innovation," Muhumuza highlighted that Uganda has historically been a net consumer of vehicles, despite having once engaged in local assembly.
He raised concern over the country's continued importation of end-of-life vehicles, calling it detrimental to both the environment and the economy.
"Currently, we are importing end-of-life vehicles, which has a negative impact on climate change and air quality. Vehicles on our roads are spending two times more. Someone who stays in Kira spends around Shs 600,000 per month on fuel alone."
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Muhumuza pointed to the Kiira Vehicle Plant in Jinja as a groundbreaking initiative that can ignite Uganda's industrial mobility revolution.
"The Kiira vehicle plant in Jinja is just a catalyst to unlock opportunity. It's a seed around which the whole mobility industry can develop and evolve."
Muhumuza underscored the vast economic opportunity in the electric vehicle value chain, particularly in car battery manufacturing, and called on government to play a strategic role in de-risking investment to attract global partners.
"The car battery value chain is massive. How can the government come in to de-risk some of these areas to attract partners?"
Muhumuza reaffirmed the country's long-term e-mobility vision, stating that Uganda has positioned itself to join the table of vehicle-manufacturing nations.
"We saw the transition to e-mobility as a unique and key opportunity for us to step in and sit on that table of vehicle manufacturers."
At the heart of Uganda's mobility agenda is a commitment to local vehicle production, with a bold timeline to scale up manufacturing by 2030.
"Top of the agenda in our e-mobility strategy is production of cars locally. We want to be producing cars massively by 2030," he said.
"The production capacity we are targeting per year will be higher than what the local market demands. The export market will be important."
Muhumuza stressed that e-mobility is not just a technological shift, but a key economic pillar that will spur industrialization, job creation, and a sustainable future for Uganda.
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