The Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Sanjay Tanna, has directed the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) to expand its service delivery and commercialize its research products to support local entrepreneurs.
Hon. Tanna issued the directive on Thursday during a strategic meeting with the UIRI Board of Directors at the Machining, Manufacturing, and Industrial Skills Development Center in Namanve Industrial Park.
The minister observed that despite UIRI’s advanced technological infrastructure, very few Ugandans are aware of or benefiting from its services.
He noted that while various prototypes leave the Namanve center, only a few reach the open market for commercial use.
Hon. Tanna expressed concern over Uganda’s rising machinery import bill, emphasizing that the institute possesses the capacity to fabricate equipment locally for value addition.
“We have a lot of honey and shea butter in different parts of the country that needs to be processed, packaged well, and sent to both the domestic and international markets,” Hon. Tanna said. “UIRI is supposed to give our people that simple machinery for processing, but they are not doing it.”
Data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics shows that Uganda’s machinery import bill reached UGX 5.97 trillion in the 2024/25 fiscal year.
Specialized industrial machinery accounted for UGX 1.48 trillion, while general industrial machinery cost the country UGX 1.36 trillion.
Hon. Tanna urged the institute's leadership to prioritize grassroots farmer groups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to accelerate the national tenfold economic growth target over the next 14 years.
“UIRI has been equipped with everything to deliver to us what we need as a country,” Hon. Tanna stated. “The institution has the capacity to shine and deliver its mandate if only they can work on the management and coordination gaps.”
He tasked the board to raise public awareness about UIRI's technical services, publicize ongoing projects, and recruit more youth for industrial skills training.
In response, the Chairperson of the UIRI Board, Rtd. Gen. Ivan Koreta, outlined institutional challenges hindering progress, including recurrent budget cuts, limited innovation financing, and post-incubation funding bottlenecks for innovators.
“We propose a dedicated funding to complete this Namanve establishment for full operationalization to position it as a flagship national industrial skills and manufacturing center,” Rtd. Gen. Koreta said.
The Executive Director of UIRI, Prof. Charles Kwesiga, reaffirmed the institute's commitment to fulfilling its mandate, noting that management is prioritizing the full operationalization of facilities and scaling up project commercialization.
