(Ecofin Agency) - Uganda is launching a new car assembly plant worth $263 million, Isaac Paul Musasizi, the Managing Director of State-controlled Kiira Motors Corp, told Bloomberg during an interview.
The plant, which is expected to enter into production by 2021, will produce 5,000 cars a year in Phase I and this capacity will be extended to 150,000 cars (buses, trucks, pick-ups and sports utility vehicles) when the project is fully completed. Phase I required an investment of $40 million, Musasizi said.
According to the official, the new plant is to meet growing demand for cars in the East African market. He said the market is mainly supplied with used cars.
Official government statistics showed that the combined market for passenger and commercial vehicles in the EAC States (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) could double in the next 13 years to almost 630,000 a year.  “We shall start making our vehicles, but also have room for others to assemble,” Musasizi said.
Moutiou Adjibi Nourou