The President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni announced that the country is close to the fulfilment of its plans to restore the operation of the national airlines, informed africanews.com, quoting the presidential speech.
As the president said, the citizens of Uganda started to spend much more money for travel and voyages; this is why the closing step is up to the government. “Someone had old me that the Ugandans spend 420 ml USD for voyages. Therefore, the government decided to revive the national airlines in order to stop the outflow of those funds and for the Ugandans comfort. Currently, we are closing up the preparations” – said Museveni.
He announced that on the celebration of the 56-th Country Independence Anniversary. The President clarified, that the national airlines was closed before for the only reason that the citizens of the country did not travel much by air.
“We let the Uganda Airlines shut down because the company incurred losses, since the people of Uganda didn’t travel that at that time, like they do now. That’s why, my fellow citizens, I can surely say that we are expecting a bright future” – he added.
In addition to the questions about the establishment of the airlines, he also touched on th plans about the industrialization of the country, stressing the importance of the investors’ attraction, and said that governmental officers had been given the task to avoid any delays while working with the investors.
“We also made efforts towards the sector of micro funding granting for the manufacturers. We are going to give capital to the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) in the total amount of 50 billion shillings in this fiscal year. Then, gradually, it will increase to 500 billion shillings in medium term perspective. The bank may then rent this funds to the manufacturers for 15% of interest rate,” – declared Museveni.
Moreover, he noted that the purchasing power is increasing in many African countries; therefore, the local manufacturers are sure that they will have access to the integrated market on the local level not only around the African continent, but also around the whole world.
“While the purchasing power beyond Africa is falling or staying on the same level, in Africa it is growing up. The purchasing power is one of the most important incentives for the production advancement”. – said the president.