Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Sanjay Tanna has challenged the Board of Directors of the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) to expand the institution’s reach, improve service delivery and ensure more innovations developed at the institute reach the market.
Tanna made the remarks during a meeting at UIRI’s Machining, Manufacturing and Industrial Skills Development Centre in Namanve Industrial Park.
The Minister said many Ugandans are still not aware of the services offered by UIRI, yet the institute has facilities and technical capacity that could support businesses, especially small and medium enterprises.
He also raised concern over innovations developed at UIRI that have not been commercialised, saying more needs to be done to move products from the laboratory and incubation stage into the market.
Tanna called for more support for SMEs and small groups involved in agro-processing. He particularly pointed to the need for affordable machinery that can help small processors add value to products such as honey and shea butter.
He also urged UIRI to step up publicity about its services, attract more young people into its training programmes and address management and coordination gaps.
“Many Ugandans do not know what UIRI can do for them. We need to take the message out and make sure the technologies developed here are being used by Ugandans,” Tanna said.
UIRI Board Chairperson Rtd. Gen. Ivan Koreta said the institute faces several challenges, including budget cuts, limited funding for innovation and difficulties accessing financing and markets after businesses leave the incubation stage.
He said these challenges make it difficult for promising innovations to grow into sustainable businesses.
UIRI Executive Director Prof. Charles Kwesiga said the institute is committed to increasing the commercialisation of its innovations and making the Namanve Centre fully operational.
The push comes as Uganda seeks to strengthen local manufacturing and value addition, with institutions such as UIRI expected to play a bigger role in helping local businesses develop products, adopt technology and compete in the market.
