President Yoweri Museveni has commissioned the Kiira Vehicle Plant, a sprawling $120 million facility in eastern Uganda that officials say is the largest integrated vehicle production site on the continent.
The plant, built by Kiira Motors Corporation in partnership with the National Enterprise Corporation, began production earlier this year after years of construction and installation of systems. It is designed to assemble electric and diesel vehicles, with an initial production capacity projected at 2,500 units a year.
Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986, framed the plant as a turning point for the country’s industrial base. He argued that producing vehicles domestically could help save hundreds of millions of dollars otherwise spent on imports.
“These young people I found in the factory have jobs,” the president said during the launch ceremony in Jinja. “Where would they be working if we didn’t have Kiira?”
Officials say the plant already employs hundreds of engineers and technicians. Museveni estimated that the facility could help Uganda save as much as $800 million annually on imported cars. He also tied the project to a broader strategy to cut the country’s dependence on imported steel.
“We have got some steel factories using scrap, but scrap isn’t good enough for this type of work,” he said. “Uganda is fortunate to have some of the biggest iron ore in the world in Kabale and Butogota. It’s these new factories that are purifying our iron ore into high-quality steel which is needed here.”
The president cast the plant as the start of a deeper integration of Uganda’s transport sector, calling it “the first time” the industry has been consolidated in this way. He also urged scientists to expand into other sectors, pointing to opportunities in battery production and local pharmaceutical research.
The Kiira project dates back to a 2019 memorandum between Kiira Motors and the army’s engineering division, which played a leading role in construction. Retired Gen. Joram Mugume, chair of the NEC board, said the project showed Uganda’s ability to execute complex infrastructure without relying exclusively on foreign contractors.
“Historically, large-scale projects were executed by foreign firms, with profits leaving the country,” Mugume said. “This plant shows we have the capacity to deliver projects of strategic importance using our own expertise and resources.”
Other officials echoed that view. Science Minister Monica Musenero described the facility as part of a “knowledge economy” that could help Uganda make up for missing earlier phases of industrialization. Makerere University Council chairperson Ronah Magara reminded the audience that Kiira began as a university prototype more than a decade ago, and urged more funding for research.
The company’s CEO, Paul Isaac Musasizi, said Kiira Motors is working to scale production to 10,000 vehicles annually by 2030. So far, the firm has built 37 electric vehicles and 27 diesel coaches, most of them for government and institutional buyers.
For Museveni, the factory fits into a broader narrative he has promoted for years: that Uganda must reduce its reliance on imports to achieve sustainable growth. “If we do it successfully,” he told the audience, “we shall save $800 million from steel alone.”
