48 Companies apply to manufacture Sanitizer in Uganda

By Our Reporter

23^rd March 2020

The State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite has said that the government will waive Value Added Tax and Excise Duty on manufacturers’ operations after they agreed to turn part of their liquor stock into sanitizers.

Anite, who met the spirit manufacturers together with Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and National Drug Authority (NDA) officials on Monday in Kampala, said they had agreed to change strategy to now converting the 7.3 million liters of alcohol into sanitizers to bridge the shortage.

Currently, there are only two certified companies producing sanitizers in the country including Saraya and Go hi-tech.

By Monday morning, 48 companies had applied for certification to make sanitizers which the minister didn’t reveal the exact companies.

It will take Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) between 4-7 days to certify these companies, Anite said.

Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) Chairman Barbara Mulwana and UNBS Executive Director Ben Manyindo attended the meeting.

The demand for hand sanitizers went up as the countries pushed to control the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The prices jumped from 25,000 to more than 120,000 Shillings.