Stop licensing foreign investors who run retail businesses- minister

The Minister of Finance Planning and Economic Development Mr Matia Kasaija wants local government authorities to stop licensing foreigners who operate retail businesses in the country.
“Local government leaders should stop giving them [foreigners] authorisation to operate such businesses. Retail business is easy and it should be left to Ugandans,” he said during a meeting between Uganda Revenue Authority officials and the business community in Mbale on Monday.
He said it’s wrong for foreign investors to compete with Ugandans in retail business.
He argued that foreigners who want to operate businesses should invest in processing and manufacturing sectors instead of flocking to retail business which gives native traders unfair competition.
The minister was responding to business people in Mbale town who told him that the retail business in the area has “been taken over” by Asians.
When Mr Kasaija tasked Mbale Municipality leaders to explain why they were licensing such people to operate retail businesses, the deputy mayor, Ms Harriet Kakai said they did not want to discriminate against business people basing on their race.
Mr Yasin Wabomba, the deputy speaker in the municipality said most of foreign investors have opened shops in street corridors dealing in electronics, shoes and clothes while others are operating bars.

Credit: Daily Monitor