Uganda and Italy are set to deepen their economic and investment partnership as the two countries prepare to host the first-ever Uganda-Italy Business and Investment Forum, scheduled for 13–14 October 2026 in Rome, Italy.
Held under the theme “Unlocking Shared Prosperity,” the two-day forum will bring together senior government officials, investment promotion agencies, business leaders, financial institutions and development partners from both countries to explore concrete investment, trade and industrial opportunities.
Henry Mayega, Head of International Economic Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, underscored the government’s focus on converting diplomatic relations into tangible economic opportunities.
“The Uganda-Italy Business and Investment Forum is intended to move our bilateral relationship from dialogue to practical economic cooperation.
We want Ugandan and Italian businesses to sit together, identify opportunities, examine bankable projects and establish partnerships that can generate investment, jobs, technology transfer and sustainable industrial growth.”
Mayega further pointed to Uganda’s regional market access as a key proposition for Italian investors.
“Uganda offers investors an opportunity to participate in a growing economy while accessing the wider East African and African markets.
Our engagement with Italian businesses is therefore not simply about bilateral trade; it is about building partnerships that can support production, value addition and competitiveness across the region.”
The forum is designed as a platform for Ugandan and Italian companies to establish partnerships, identify bankable projects and expand trade and investment links, with particular emphasis on sectors where Italy’s technological expertise and Uganda’s resources and growing market can complement each other.
Uganda will present itself as a strategic investment destination, supported by its young and growing population, natural resources, improving regulatory framework and access to the wider East African and continental African markets.
The country also offers investors access to the East African Community (EAC), COMESA, SADC and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), creating a potential regional market of approximately 1.4 billion consumers.
Italy-Uganda partnership
Italy’s longstanding engagement with Africa, technological expertise and extensive network of small and medium-sized enterprises make it an important potential partner in Uganda’s industrialisation and development agenda.
The partnership is also expected to benefit from Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa, which places emphasis on investment, economic cooperation, skills development, energy, infrastructure and sustainable development.
For Uganda, the forum comes at a time when the country is seeking to move beyond the export of raw commodities towards value addition, industrialisation, technology transfer and the development of local supply chains.
Uganda’s coffee industry provides one of the clearest examples of the existing commercial relationship between the two countries.
Italy has consistently ranked among Uganda’s most important coffee markets. In December 2024, Italy accounted for 38.4 percent of Uganda’s coffee exports.
In 2024, Uganda exported approximately 103,119 tonnes of coffee to Italy, valued at about US$426 million.
Uganda’s total coffee exports that year were worth approximately US$1.55 billion, putting Italy’s share of the country’s coffee export value at about 27.5 percent.
The relationship expanded further in 2025. Between June 2024 and May 2025, Uganda exported 7.43 million 60-kilogramme bags of coffee worth US$2.09 billion, compared with 6.08 million bags in the preceding 12 months. Italy accounted for approximately 39 percent of Uganda’s coffee exports during that period.
Although Italy’s share has moderated in 2026, the market remains significant.
July 2026 figures put Italy’s share at 29.3 percent of Uganda’s coffee export receipts. Uganda exported approximately 846,686 bags, equivalent to about 50,800 tonnes, globally that month, generating US$204.94 million.
The figures underline the depth of the commercial relationship and the potential for Uganda to secure greater value from the coffee chain through processing, branding, packaging and direct access to international markets.
Priority investment sectors
The forum will focus on several priority areas.
Agro-industry and agro-mechanisation will examine opportunities in coffee, tea and cocoa, particularly value addition, processing, packaging, branding, mechanisation and export development.
Pharmaceuticals and healthcare will explore investment in the production of essential medicines, vaccines and medical supplies, as well as healthcare infrastructure, research partnerships, technology transfer and regulatory strengthening.
The forum will also examine oil, gas and energy, including opportunities arising from Uganda’s oil and gas development, midstream and downstream infrastructure, renewable energy, power generation and energy services.
Another major area will be manufacturing and industrial development, including light manufacturing, agro-processing, construction materials and industrial services.
The proposed creation of industrial parks for Italian manufacturing in Uganda under a “Made with Italy” approach will also form part of the discussions.
From dialogue to investment
The organisers intend to make the forum highly interactive, moving beyond general discussions to facilitate direct business engagement.
The programme will include high-level opening sessions, plenary discussions, sector-focused roundtables, Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) meetings, networking sessions, company and institutional visits, and discussions around specific investment projects.
The forum aims to facilitate direct contact between Ugandan and Italian companies and identify partnerships that can translate into investment, joint ventures, technology transfer and industrial development.
The event is organised with the participation of the Embassy of the Republic of Uganda in Italy and UNIDO ITPO, with Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo and Bergs & More Srl serving as co-organisers.
Uganda’s Ambassador to Italy, Her Excellency Elizabeth Paula Napeyok, expected emphasised the need to transform the longstanding relationship between the two countries into deeper commercial and industrial partnerships.
“Uganda and Italy already have a strong foundation of friendship and commercial engagement, particularly in areas such as coffee.
The next step is to deepen this relationship by attracting investment into value addition, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, energy and agro-industrial development.
This forum provides an opportunity for Italian companies to see Uganda not only as a market, but as a strategic production and investment base for the wider African market.”
Napeyok also highlighted the importance of moving from commodity exports towards greater value creation.
“Our ambition is to ensure that the resources and products Uganda produces generate greater value for our people.
Partnerships with Italian companies can bring technology, expertise, financing and market access that can help Uganda strengthen its industrial base and participate more effectively in regional and global value chains.”
A platform for shared prosperity
The Rome forum comes as Uganda seeks to strengthen its position as an investment destination while accelerating its transition from primary production towards manufacturing, value addition and export-oriented industrialisation.
For Italy, the forum presents an opportunity for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises and larger industrial groups, to explore opportunities in one of East Africa’s growing economies.
For Uganda, the objective is to attract investment that goes beyond capital inflows by delivering technology transfer, skills development, local supply chains, value addition and sustainable industrial growth.
With coffee already providing a substantial commercial bridge between the two countries, the October forum will seek to broaden that relationship into a wider economic partnership covering agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, infrastructure and industrial development.
The central proposition of the “Unlocking Shared Prosperity” forum is therefore to turn existing trade relations into deeper investment and industrial partnerships capable of creating long-term economic value for both Uganda and Italy.
