Overview:
Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) is a policy geared towards promoting the use of locally manufactured goods and the use of local skills/personnel as opposed to foreign ones.
Uganda Airlines is calling on local suppliers to partner with them to provide in-flight necessities, items, and services. The airline’s CEO, Jenifer Bamuturaki, emphasized the need for Ugandan businesses to meet international quality standards, citing consistency and quality issues with local products.
“One of the reasons we called you here is to showcase what we bring in internationally (procurements from foreign countries) so that we can find local suppliers who can produce that quality,” Ms. Bamuturaki said during the suppliers’ forum in Kampala.
“We’d like to have consistency and quality, not to deviate from it even by a percentage. The good thing is we are going to have more of these forums. We are dedicated to supporting home-grown businesses to provide the kind of product we are looking for,” she added.
Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) is a policy geared towards promoting the use of locally manufactured goods and the use of local skills/personnel as opposed to foreign ones. Ms. Bamuturaki explained that in the case of yoghurt, during the dry season, suppliers usually run low on milk and fail to supply, which is not the case for foreign countries that would consistently provide products no matter the season.
Dr. Aloysius Byaruhanga from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) urged potential suppliers to ensure that their products reduce the carbon footprint of the airline. “Are you catching up with the trends? Get to know your clients and move with them but also comply. Global airlines are increasingly focusing on sustainability and procurement plays a very big role in sourcing eco-friendly materials, suppliers should focus on innovations that reduce the weight of the plane,” he said.
One of the participants proposed having Ugandan local music played in the aircraft as one of the ways of promoting local products and entrepreneurs.
The forum attracted stakeholders from all sectors, including the Uganda Investment Authority, Uganda National Standards Bureau (UNBS), and PPDA. Some of the considerations for potential local partners include financial stability, global reach, local presence, quality and safety standards, cost efficiency, delivery time, reliability, innovation, and technology.