UGANDA OFFERS TAX INCENTIVES TO FLOWER EXPORTERS IN ECONOMIC ZONES

A worker from Victoria Flower Ltd arranges flowers for export. Export revenue expected over the next five years after all the 11 new licences are taken up.

The Uganda FreeZones Authority (UFZA) has come up with incentives to attract investment in the sector. Flower farms Rosebud and Premier Floriculture are the latest licensees — the 10th and 11th — in the two years the agency has been in existence. They were licensed on October 27.

The Authority was created by an Act of Parliament in 2014 to promote fresh produce exports.

The latest initiative, which officials say is meant to boost export revenues with a target of at least $100 million in the next five years, has benefited producers and exporters, with seven of the 11 licences going to floriculturists.

Floriculture

Officials see floriculture as a high potential sector that does not need massive investment. The sector brings in export revenues of at least $30 million.

Kenya, the continent’s third leading exporter of cut flowers, produces some 360 tonnes of cut flowers, earning it the title of “the world’s flower garden.”