October 26, 2006

Indian firms to set up $12 million fish investments in Uganda

Plans are underway for two Indian companies to set up multi-million dollar fisheries in Uganda, the State Minister for Fisheries, Fred Mukisa said last week.

Mashuli Gashmani India Limited would be spending US$8 million for a commercial prawn fish farm and Angelique intends to set up a US$4 million turnkey aquaculture enterprise.

Both projects are expected to begin early next year.

The two fisheries would be processing seafood for export. The companies would produce their own fish and seafood while supplementing these supplies with those from smaller commercial farms around it.

One of the investors would also be setting up a shrimp farm as a joint venture with a Ugandan fish exporter.

While commercial fishing has gone on for a while, it has failed to generate meaningful profits for the industry. Commerical fish farming would change that, said Mukisa.

Authorities are assessing the local population's ability to supply the new fisheries and assured aid for farms needing government support to expand capacity. The government has set aside UGS1.5 billion (US$817,000) to support the local fish farmers in this project, Mukisa added.