Africa-Press – Uganda. The Executive Director of the Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (FSME), Mr John Walugembe has asked youths to stop shunning their country to travel abroad for work, which cannot make them rich.
Mr Walugembe who was delivering a key-note address during the Central Region Spotlight to unlock investment opportunities in Buganda on September 4 at Gudie Leisure Farm (GLF) in Kira Wakiso District said youths can exploit the available opportunities in Uganda.
“So you see the move by Ugandan young people to travel out either to the Middle East or to the West. Yes, it’s difficult but what they must understand, it is much more difficult for them out of the country,” he said adding,
“I will give an example that you have all these foreigners coming here to invest.Why do they leave their countries to come and visit here if we didn’t have opportunities?”
Mr Walugembe challenged the youth to participate in commerce, manufacturing, agriculture, and in the digital economy but most importantly to be innovative if they are to adapt to the existing economic situation.
“I want to urge you and all Ugandans in businesses to be bold in asking for incentives from your elected officials because no government official is going to come home and say, now you are eligible for this incentive. No, you have to ask,” he said.
This followed complaint by the youth on the incentives government is giving to foreign investors unlike its nationals.
Mr Walugembe said, “The beauty of these investors is that they are very aggressive. They look for these opportunities and ask for money. We must challenge ourselves to do the same.”
The Central Region Spotlight was a private sector-led initiative organized by GLF to enlighten local and foreign investors about the investment opportunities that exist in the region, to generate support for young entrepreneurs that are already investing and to celebrate its rich cultural heritage.
Addressing the youth at the event, Prof. Gudula Naiga Basaza, Founder and Managing Director of GLF said that the youths must keep numbers if they are to become good entrepreneurs and understand if their businesses are productive, planned and profitable.
“You cannot do any business when you don’t know how it is working. What are you putting in and what are you getting out so that you are able to know that I’m making a profit or making a loss,” she said adding,
“Many people claim that taxation is making them lose business but they don’t tax your working capital, they don’t tax your loss, they tax your profit. So if you don’t keep your record very well, chances are high that the taxman might think that you’re actually making profits but if you have your reports, you have all the weapons that you require to be able to present your case properly,”
Background
GLF is a social enterprise providing various agribusiness development services to youth-owned Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the agricultural sector, and in particular, those operating in the white meat and related value chains.
Established in 2009, the company, since its inception, has been providing the MSMEs with the technical and business training they need to produce and distribute high quality white meat products and services through its agribusiness incubation center, linking them to markets in and outside their districts of operation.
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