Riyadh

Uganda has been elected to the Industrial Development Board (IDB) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the period 2025- 2027 at elections conducted during the 21st UNIDO General Conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 23rd to 27th November 2025.

The Industrial Development Board is composed of 53 Members and is responsible for reviewing implementation of UNIDO's work programme, the regular and operational budgets, and makes recommendations to the General Conference on policy matters, including the appointment of the Director-General. Uganda's Delegation to the General Conference was led by H.E. Isaac Sebulime, Ambassador of the Republic of Uganda to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and comprised of officials from the Uganda Permanent Mission in Vienna and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. 

In his address to the General Conference, Amb. Sebulime commended UNIDO for promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development worldwide. He noted that Uganda is particularly interested in accelerating the country's national development agenda by using UNIDO's expertise in transformative partnerships, knowledge transfer, and agro-industrialization. ‘Uganda's focus on promoting innovation, improving productivity, and increasing the level of value addition from primary processing of raw materials to secondary and tertiary manufacturing of medium to high technology products for exports, aligns closely with UNIDO's mission', he added.

According to UNIDO, 125 million people worldwide depend on coffee for their livelihoods. Uganda is currently one of five countries (Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, Tanzania) earmarked to receive assistance in the coffee value chain development through the UNIDO-Italy programme for Advancing Climate-Resilience and Transformation in African Coffee (ACT). The programme worth €15 million is aimed at improving the lives of the people at the beginning of the coffee supply chain by providing better jobs and better incomes for families and communities.  The General Conference was held as the Global Industry Summit under 3 key thematic areas, namely: Investment and Partnership; Women and Empowerment; and Generation Future. The Session on Women Empowerment focused on the essential role women play in the economy and industry, and the importance of equal rights, equal access to education, training and finance, and equal opportunities in the workplace and in professional life.

Delivering the Key note address, Her Highness Princess Mashael Saud Al-Shalaan, founder of AEON Collective, highlighted the fast progress that has been made in Saudi Arabia's development and the significant progress made in providing equal opportunities for women - from equal pay to more female participation in STEM education. She emphasized that both equality and gender equity should be at the heart of industrial policy and called upon governments to truly listen to women's voices, ‘to understand their needs, recognize the barriers they confront, and support them in rewriting those stories - keeping what empowers them and changing what holds them back'.

During the General Conference, Nature Bio Foods, an Indian Company with operations in Uganda was announced winner of the UNIDO One World Sustainability Awards under the Category of Sustainable Supply Chains. The Award was received by Mr. Amit Singh, Sustainability Lead, who noted that one cannot talk about sustainability without talking about agriculture. Therefore, sustainability is about ‘how to increase the income of the farmers, how to reduce the cost of cultivation, and how take the farmers to the stage where they can grow and prosper.'

Nature Bio Foods is a Subsidiary of LT Foods, which is headquartered in India. The company opened a processing plant in Uganda in 2023 and is currently working with 16000 farmers involved in the production of soyabean, sorghum, chia seeds and sesame seeds for export.