BY SAMUEL NABWIISO
The European Union (EU) represented by the
European Commission in Uganda and the Government of Uganda through the Global
Green Growth Institute (GGGI) have signed a contract today to cooperate on
advancing the Greening Uganda’s Urbanization and Industrialization agenda. This
project is part of the European Union’s Inclusive Green Economy Uptake
Programme (GreenUP) financed under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) and
will be implemented for a 36 months period with a total cost estimated of just
under EUR 5mln. The MoU was signed by European Union in Uganda and Ms. Dagmar
Zwebe, Country Representative of the GGGI Uganda office.
The overall objective
of the GreenUp action is to contribute to the Ugandan transition toward an
inclusive, green and competitive low carbon economy with the creation of decent
green jobs. Within the framework of this intervention this Project has been designed
to support the Government of Uganda (GOU) with their National Development Plan
III (NDPIII) commitments for 2020/21-2024/25, and the long term commitments as
expressed in the Uganda Green Growth Development Strategy (UGGDS) and Uganda’s
Vision 2040. It will directly contribute to greener growth paths to becoming a
middle-income country, through the acceleration of investments in green growth
pathways
The Projects impact
objective is therefore “Uganda achieves strong, inclusive and sustainable economic
growth”. The Uganda Vision 2040 specifically highlights industrialization and
urbanization as key focal are as it envisions that 60% of Ugandans will live in
urban areas by 2040 and therefore, actions of designing, servicing and
attracting investments into greening secondary cities will help Uganda to
benefit from the economic and social dividends that come with urbanization.
Through a multi-
stakeholder process guided by the National Planning Authority (NPA) as the
project coordinator the industrial zones of Gulu, Entebbe, Pakwach and Soroti
have been identified to receive support from the Project in the development of
their Masterplans in a green manner and the identification of potential
investment projects. The Project is committed to attract investment commitments
for at least 6 projects for these industrial areas to accelerate and green the
industrialization process in Uganda. This process will be guided by specific
guidelines setting out what a green industrial could look like.
With a similar process
the cities of Arua, Gulu, Jinja and Mbarara have been identified by the
stakeholders, led by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in
close coordination with the NPA, to receive similar support as the industrial
zones in the development of their Masterplans and the acceleration of financing
in potential (public and private) projects. For the Arua-Pakwach corridor, and
for Gulu there will be a joined focus combining both elements to ensure
inclusive green growth is accomplished. Overall, the aim is to set the country
on a low carbon development pathway, generating green jobs, to reduce the
environmental burden and the use of natural resources and to contribute
substantially to increasing green investment flows into Uganda.
Increased waste
collection and sorting in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) is
another element of the Project. Guided by the GKMA Waste Management Strategy
2021-2030, two waste sorting and diversion centers will be designed, and
investment commitment will be sought for at least one of these sites to support
the GKMA commitment of 30% recycling by 2030. Furthermore, business development
support will be provided to multiple small and medium enterprises in the waste
sector to strengthen their operations and be able to widen their scope and
increase their waste recycling or treatment.
All stakeholders
involved within this Project including -but not limited to- the Government of
Uganda, the EU and GGGI and are strongly committed to support Uganda’s
transition toward an inclusive, green and competitive low carbon economy, and
especially the sectors as elaborated upon in the UGGDS. This includes making
Uganda’s business environment more conducive to inclusive and green investments
and improving the environment for investing in Uganda’s economic green
transformation and the urbanization and industrialization agenda.
