Museveni Commissions Face Mask Industry in Mukono

President Museveni, has revealed that he is very determined to invest all his efforts in boosting the production industry of Uganda.

This comes after his address on the way forward after the effects of the COVID-19 that had paused all economies on the globe. He said that Shs 1 Trillion out of the 1.9 Trillion loan from International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be used to boost production.

While commissioning the Lida Packaging Products Manufacturing Company in Mbalala Mukono District, he said Uganda has lots of raw materials to feed industries for production of commodities rather than importing these products which was weakening the economy more.

This comes after the government in May secured a loan from IMF under the Rapid Credit Facility. President Museveni assured Ugandans that he can not borrow such sums of money and still maintain the importation of obvious products that can be manufactured in Uganda of which such importation weakens the economy.

“Ironically, alcohol that is made from our own bananas has been killing you. But it’s the same alcohol that we are using to manufacture sanitizers, and this is the production I am talking about.” Museveni said.

He encouraged businessmen to borrow money from Uganda Development Bank in order to set up firms and produce more for the Ugandan economy and he asserted that this is money for investors to exploit. He further encouraged investors to add more value to the sugar produced in Busoga Region by using it as a raw material to produce more products.

The Minister for Investment and Privatisation, Ms Evelyn Anite applauded the president for giving a helping hand into Ugandan business through the Uganda Development Bank.

She further told the president that such assistance is being exploited already by investors, hinting on such a fact that long queues have been seen at the Bank. She informed the president that exportation of masks from Uganda to neighbouring states is at 50,000 masks so far.

Mr Li Shiqing, of Lida Manufacturers, appealed to the head of state to impose an import duty as a way of supporting local manufacturers. Lida employs 315 Ugandans and of these 220 are women whose production capacity is at 560,000 masks a single day. They too are manufacturing non woven fabrics,woven bags, plastic packaging products, to mention but a few.