How is UGANDA ?

Question

Is Uganda good place for business, or even good place to live as an expat?

Answer 1

Visited it two months ago and absolutely hated it. I went there on holiday intending to spend about three weeks .....I ended up leaving after four days and going into Rwanda which was a beautiful place.

What I hated most about Uganda was the dishonesty of the people. Whilst I appreciate that this is borne out of poverty it seemed that every thing had a price. If I asked someone the time i had to pay, it someone pointed out a direction to me I had to pay. I also saw countless bribes being paid by bus drivers to road side police officers.

A further problem with the country is the currency itself. Before I left I had to ensure that all of my US dollars were pristine [no marks or tears and all over the year 2001] and even when they deal with their own currency it can be problematic because often they will not even accept their own money if is it marked or creased... I met an American guy there who had wads of US dollars that would not be accepted [even by banks] as they were folded and creased up!!

The country itself is very run down aside from the national park areas and to be honest I really did not see that many ex-pats there mostly NGO's due to the civil war going on in Northern Uganda. To be honest i think it would be very difficult tio undertake a successful business in Uganda due to the levels of corruption in this country. I stayed a couple of nights in a backpackers hostel in Kampala and the owners were Sewdish and they had lived there for over 10 years but were having to sell up and move back to Sweden due to the problems they were having with corruption, and the fact that A Ugandan person had bought their land from under them.. don't ask me how..

If you would like a recommendation then I would say Rwanda. Glorious country, many, many ex-pats there and the country is prospering. I was told that it was poorer than Uganda but it actually looks much wealthier due to the fact that a lot of international foreign aid has poured in since the 1994 genocide. When I arrived in Kigali I was so surprised by the number of really expensive cars people were driving...
Really consider Rwanda which borders Uganda... it is much nicer!!! P.S Many, manypeople speak English there [even the President is English speaking as he was a refugee in Uganda] so you do not have to know French although it does provide an opportunity to learn!!

See my film loop of Rwanda below:

Answer 2

I would disagree with "elf". I have been to this country and it is a mess aside from which there is a war going in the North. Rwanda is far prettier and scenic and I personally never encountered the same hassles in Rwanda which I did in Uganda with the old old bills/creased bills and corruption thing. The people in Uganda are always trying to rip you off and everything seems to come at a price which is possibly understandable given how poor the country is.

You would never believe that whilst the people in this country are living in abject poverty, the President is building a multi-million dollar hotel for a 3 day visit by the Queen of England in November 07. Talk about getting his priorities wrong!!!

Answer 3

I have been to Uganda and many other places in Africa (both to work and for holiday), and I don't fully agree with comeback's comments. The issue with unmarked/new-ish bills is common in many African countries, including Rwanda. Corruption and difficulties with foreign-owned businesses are also common throughout the continent. What specific business are you interested in?

I have several friends and colleagues who have been posted in Uganda and have enjoyed it. Some of these same people have also been in Rwanda, and still prefer Uganda. I have one colleague who swears that Jinja, the source of the Nile in Uganda, is the prettiest place he's been to in Africa (and he's worked in Africa going on 17 years).

So, to each his or her own. I personally would chose Uganda in my top five countries to live/work in Africa (I work in relief and development, not private sector work). Remember it is a country that has been at war for decades so there are other parts of the continent that are more settled, more developed, etc. but Uganda is very pretty geographically. From the expat life I've seen in Kampala, it's not a bad place to be.

Answer 4

hopefully comeback will read to see further comment.good girl.yeah uganda is a craphole of note except 4 the luxury of the breakfast at interconternental hotel.they brag of a waterfall of note and its crappy.if to answer ur quest its cool 4 bussi or to live i would choose elsewhere.unless ur into really getting into something deeper than a straight shoot op thats above the flyers of note.expats normally have good taste sorry not needing points on this one.

Answer 5

Certainly a lot better than under Idi Amin's rule

Answer 6

sure it is ..but you need to know which business you need established there and location