ganda is drafting a national e-commerce policy, the Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, has disclosed, as businesses point to high logistics costs and fragmented rules as the main barriers to digital trade.
Mbadi made the announcement at the ninth KTA Annual African Technology and Intellectual Property Symposium in Kampala, noting that the policy will be followed by a law and regulations.
"We are working on having an e-commerce policy," he said.
He added that wider internet access is needed so rural enterprises can serve customers in markets that require digital payment, and warned that remote transactions raise the risk of fraud, cybercrime and consumer rights problems.
Kenneth Muhangi, partner at KT Advocates and Executive Director of the Centre for Law, Policy and Innovation Initiative, highlighted high freight costs, complex customs procedures, strict product standards and packaging challenges. He called for tariff removal, cheaper transport and logistics, and a central coordinating body.
Talkmore Chidede, senior digital trade expert at the AfCFTA Secretariat, criticised duplicated approvals and conflicting data protection laws across the continent.
"One SME should not have to seek permission from 54 countries across Africa in order to trade," he said.
Uganda's Ministry of ICT reports 45.7 million active mobile users and 17 million mobile internet subscribers, a large base for digital commerce. Looking ahead, the African Union's Digital Transformation Strategy aims for a single digital market across all 54 African countries by 2030.
