Museveni commends business community for facilitating regional and global markets

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President Yoweri Museveni has commended the business community for ensuring national stability, peace and facilitating regional and global markets.

The President made the remarks on Sunday while officiating at the Kampala Business Forum at Kampala Serena Hotel.

The engagement was held under the theme: “The Power of Collaboration: Public-Private Partnerships for National Transformation”.

During the gathering, President Museveni also applauded the Kampala Business community for supporting government initiatives of economic transformation.

President Museveni interacts with some of the members of the business community during the Kampala Business Forum at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Sunday. (In yellow) is Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa. (PPU Photo)

“You are the middle-class people who depend on what we call profit. Profit is the difference between the cost of production and the final price. You are profit makers, you are the middle class, not peasants,” he remarked.

A release from the Presidential Press Unit states that in his address, the President reaffirmed the government’s commitment to a structured infrastructure development and market access.

President Museveni also urged the business community to keep embracing productive investment, noting that prosperity comes from deliberate efforts.

“The Bible says that whatever a man does, that is what he reaps, and this business forum is exactly what NRM has planted,” he added.

“The middle class, the bourgeois were part of the French Revolution because it was the Federalists who had brought taxes, therefore what we are seeing here is you, the middle class coming up and discovering the interest of integrating a United Uganda and also a United East Africa”, Museveni said.

President Museveni also noted that economies grow when people focus on shared economic goals instead of identity differences, saying that Uganda’s emphasis on interest-based politics has created a stable country for investment.

Members of the business community listening to President Museveni's address during the Kampala Business Forum at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Sunday. (PPU Photo)

Members of Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) express their support for President Museveni during the Kampala Business Forum at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Sunday. (PPU Photo)

Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa addressing members of the business community during a meeting with President Museveni at the Kampala Business Forum at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Sunday. (PPU Photo)

The business community, led by the Chairman of the Presidential CEO Forum, Mr Emmanuel Katongole, thanked President Museveni and the NRM government for creating a conducive environment that enabled their businesses to thrive.

“His Excellency’s leadership has connected the doors of national development like a master planner, ensuring that no sector grows in isolation. These are the gains that we must protect,” Mr Katongole observed.

He added that “business and industry love peace and stability, without peace and stability, businesses fail and families get disgruntled. That is why we are here today. We are the business leaders and the beneficiaries of that level of peace and security.”

During the gathering, the Kampala Business Forum also formally endorsed President Museveni’s re-election and resolved to support him in the 2026 general elections.

According to the PPU release, President Museveni welcomed the endorsement with gratitude.

“I congratulate you and welcome your endorsement,” President Museveni said.

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, thanked the business community for endorsing President Museveni.

“I want to thank the Private sector for endorsing President Museveni; you have made our work easy in driving national development,” he said.

The CEO of Great Lakes Safaris, Mr Amos Wekesa, thanked President Museveni for boosting tourism, noting that there are many tourists around the country.

“Your Excellency, I want to thank you for the tourism industry. It's now doing wonders. We now have many tourists travelling around Uganda,” he said.