KAMPALA, October 6, 2026 — The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives [MTIC] has launched a new digitalised system to streamline Uganda’s sugar industry and end the long-standing crisis where some farmers have resorted to burning the harvested sugarcane rejected by millers because of unplanned production.
Speaking at a breakfast press meeting held recently at the ministry’s headquarters located at Farmers House in Kampala, Trade Minister Sanjay Tanna, said the intervention is part of broader government reforms to drive trade, industrialisation and the tenfold growth strategy.
Tanna said the Ministry initially operated an analog data system but has now embarked on full digitalisation of its operations, with the sugar sub-sector as the pilot.
“We have identified the problem where people are crying about sugarcane. When you plant the sugarcane, the factories are not willing to buy it. People have to burn the sugarcane. There is failure in coordination and we are saying in this day and age we cannot operate in darkness,” Tanna told journalists.
“So the ministry [MTIC] has introduced an IT system, where the farmer is going to tell us the size of his land, the amount of sugarcane planted, we predict the amount of sugarcane that is going to come out and it must be equal or only slightly more than what the total crushing capacity of these factories is.”
The Minister revealed the system is fully built by Ugandan developers, underscoring the Ministry’s commitment to local science, technology and innovation.
“Like the one we have done for sugar. The sugar industry system is Ugandan. We have refused those things of bringing people from outside. We have the knowledge here,” he said.
Tanna said government policies are now bearing fruit, with Uganda moving from a net importer to a net exporter of key commodities.
He noted that Uganda, which used to import milk from Denmark and Holland, powdered milk, chicken and eggs from South Africa, is now exporting milk, sugar, tea, coffee, avocado oil, cooking oil and soap.
“The good news is Uganda is now a net exporter of milk… We are exporting sugar. We are exporting coffee,” he said, adding that the poultry sector is now producing up to 1.2 million eggs per day by a single investor.
This shift, he said, is a result of deliberate government planning under the National Development Plans. He explained that NDP IV [2025-2030] targets Uganda’s gross domestic product [GDP] from US$ 50 billion to US$ 500bln by 2040. With the economy now at USD 70 billion, the target is now a sevenfold growth.
He said the ministry has stopped working in silos and is now working with other teams in ministries, departments and agencies [MDAs] – including Bank of Uganda, Uganda Investment Authority [UIA], Solicitor General, Attorney General [AG] and Ministry of Local Government – to organize industrialisation.
He said government is now promoting clustered industrialisation to reduce costs, citing Namanve Industrial Park as a model where factories can share power, water, drainage and waste treatment, instead of putting industries in the middle of housing estates.
“We inherited issues – deregulated or unregulated industrialisation, where you have people putting an industry in the middle of a housing estate. Taking a three-phase power line in the middle of a village costs government billions for just one industry,” he noted.
The same digitalization drive is being extended to the steel industry, where Uganda imports almost US$ 1 billion in raw material despite having iron ore in Kabale, Mubende and Toro. Six iron ore processing companies have already been licensed.
Tanna said the ministry launched a nationwide survey for micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs] to understand access to finance and why Ugandan businesses collapse within three years.
Under the ATMS strategy – Agro-processing, Tourism, Mining and Science, Technology & Innovation – the Ministry is supporting value addition in pineapples, mangoes in Luwero, Soroti, Kayunga, Yumbe and Koboko, honey and shea butter for export to Japan, Europe and America.
https://thecooperator.news/eac-trade-hits-us-52-3bln-as-exports-drive-surplus-in-q2-2026/
Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country-wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news
