By Aggrey Baba
The growing presence of foreign-owned companies masquerading as local contractors has sparked fresh concern among Ugandan construction sector players, who say the practice is undermining genuine local firms and distorting the government’s local content agenda.
Speaking at a recent Construction Procurement and Finance Dialogue held at Four Points by Sheraton hotel, Kampala, contractors under their umbrella body, Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABSEC), said the country’s procurement system has been compromised by loopholes that allow foreign-owned entities to register as local, only to walk away with contracts meant to build Ugandan capacity.
The event, which drew government officials, bankers and key stakeholders, was themed “Unlocking Sector Growth through Inclusive Procurement and Sustainable Financing Solutions.”
UNABSEC President is Kiara Binta Nkuranga said many of the contracts that should be benefiting Ugandan-owned construction companies are now going to foreign companies with the ability to register a local presence on paper while retaining foreign ownership and management in practice.
Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, who also serves as the patron of UNABSEC, confirmed that this is a growing problem, calling for an immediate review of what qualifies a company as local under Uganda’s procurement laws.
“The current system only requires a company to be registered here, which is not enough. Foreign firms are exploiting that loophole,” Katumba said, adding that the government must tighten the definition of local contractor to reflect true Ugandan ownership and control, not just a postal address in Kampala.
He warned that unless urgent action is taken, local firms will be systematically sidelined even in major upcoming national projects like the Kampala-Jinja Expressway and the Standard Gauge Railway.
Industry players argue that this quiet takeover of the local construction space has long-term implications for the country’s economic growth and job creation. While foreign companies often come with cheaper financing and stronger backing, they usually repatriate profits, import their own personnel, and invest little in local skills development.
Contractors say this trend is stifling the growth of Uganda’s own engineering and construction capacity, leaving the country dependent on external expertise and capital (something they argue is both dangerous and unnecessary).
UNABSEC is now calling for an audit of recent contracts awarded under the local contractor tag to verify the true identity of the beneficiaries, also pushing for policy reforms that will go beyond company registration and require Ugandan equity ownership, board control, and actual management.
The matter touches on broader questions about Uganda’s identity in infrastructure development. At a time when the government is championing ‘Buy Uganda, Build Uganda’ (BUBU), the rising dominance of foreign firms under local registration undermines not only the spirit but the letter of that policy.
In the next financial year, with several projects coming up, including oil roads and expressways, local contractors are warning that unless the procurement system is cleaned up, Ugandans will continue to watch from the sidelines as others cash in on their own country’s growth.
