close-up shot of Ugandan shillings

Growing Uganda’s Investment Ecosystem .

Africa

Strategic Investments Activity (SIA)

Project Dates: September 2021 - August 2026
The USAID Uganda Strategic Investments Activity strives to improve the livelihoods of underrepresented and marginalized people by accelerating private investment in the country’s agriculture, health, and energy sectors.

Abundant natural resources, dynamic energy and agricultural markets, and a free market economy with few limits on foreign investment make Uganda a potentially attractive market for investors. With no shortage of domestic and foreign capital resources, the country is also seeing the emergence of business development and transactions advisory services that match investors with investees to move funds quickly into Uganda’s dynamic investment landscape.

USAID Uganda’s Strategic Investments Activity (SIA) works to accelerate and grow the investment ecosystem by increasing transparency, lowering transaction costs and risks, and creating partnerships that unlock commercial investments. The Activity creates a pipeline of up to 40 investable companies operating in agriculture, health, and productive use of energy and screens them for gender, youth, and social inclusion impacts. For transactions under $500,000, the Activity mobilizes local service providers through results-based grants and subcontracts to facilitate deals to close. For transactions over $500,000, our partners CrossBoundary and Open Capital Advisors apply blended finance tools to de-risk larger investments and provide capital structuring, deal monitoring, and aftercare support to investees and investors alike.

Uganda SIA is working to mobilize $140 million in additional private capital in agriculture, health, and productive use of energy, improving the livelihoods of 100,000 underrepresented and marginalized people in Feed the Future zones.

Project Goals


  • Boost foreign and domestic investment in agriculture and related industries
  • Increase commercial financing in agriculture and related sectors
  • Expand productive use of energy in agriculture and related sectors
  • Improve policies, laws, and regulations regarding commercial investments

3 Questions with Tim Sparkman on Capturing the Impact of Investment Facilitation

Tim Sparkman, managing partner at The Canopy Lab, advocates for the need to reassess how we measuring the impact of investment facilitation.

A woman rides a motorbike along a road, with a graphic of interconnected circles follows her.

3 Questions with Tim Sparkman on Capturing the Impact of Investment Facilitation

Tim Sparkman discusses the importance of reassessing how we measuring the impact of investment facilitation, and strides being made on two Chemonics-implemented programs.

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