Sustainable Business for Uganda (SB4U), a platform supporting Ugandan and European private sector has launched technical working groups that will assist the easing of business for both Ugandan and European private sector actors.
SB4U is a joint partnership between the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and the European Union (EU) that was launched in March 2020 at the first ever Uganda-Europe Business Forum held in Kampala, Uganda.
Speaking at the launch of the technical working groups (TWGs) on 21 March 2022, the Chairman, Private Sector Foundation Uganda and Co-Chair SB4U Board, Dr. Elly Karuhanga highlighted the critical role of SB4U board members in strengthening the Uganda-EU economic alliance as well as overcoming the various hurdles for investment and trade between Uganda and the EU.
This is to be achieved through the TWGs which play a key role in identifying and finding solutions to alternatives that improve the business environment in Uganda. They will contribute to a continued EU-Uganda investment climate dialogue, identify challenges in the agreed thematic areas, prioritize areas of focus and recommend implementable solutions through innovative private-public collaboration. They will be the main technical arm of the SB4U Platform for the advocacy process.
The critical investment hurdles identified by stakeholders during the Uganda-Europe Business Forum are ‘Skills and Attitude’, ‘Access to Finance’, ‘Governance and Accountability’ as well as ‘Trade and Investment Promotion’. These respectively are the focus of the four working groups. Each TWG is composed of 15 members from the Ugandan and EU private and public sectors.
The successful launch had members of the TWGs run through a list of issues identified by stakeholders at the business forum, as the major challenges and recommendations in the four key areas. The TWGs will continuously review these recommendations over time, offering and advocating for implementable solutions.
“Today’s event is a concrete example of the European Union engagement to foster key partnerships between the Ugandan and European public and private sectors,” said European Union Ambassador to Uganda and Co-Chair SB4U Board, H.E Attilio Pacifici.