While listening to a talk show on a local radio station some years back, a caller dialed into the station which was hosting a Government official talking about the Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) policy. The discussion was around the need to get Ugandans to support their own locally manufactured goods or services.
This seemingly very knowledgeable caller asked the guest in the studio how the Ugandans would support goods Made in Uganda with their poor quality. The guest who I will call Sarah, for our purposes here, asked him what substandard Ugandan made good he had bought lately. The caller was like, well I have heard people saying things. He continued, ‘you can buy a shoe today and tomorrow the sole falls off’. So Sarah brilliantly asked him, “have you ever bought such a shoe? Mr caller says, ‘no but I hear’. Then Sarah asked him, ‘who told you? Give me the name of the person who bought shoes and the sole fell off the next day’. You could have heard a pin drop. ‘Okay, she continued, where did he buy the shoes? Still nothing. So where did this caller get this story? Probably he also heard it somewhere and the person he heard it from also heard it somewhere. Maybe somewhere along the way, someone fabricated the story. But why? No reason. This is how mindsets form and are then reinforced until they become the accepted norm.
Mindset by definition means a mental attitude or inclination. A set of established attitudes held by someone. This is huge. This goes right into issues to do with upbringing, education, social beliefs, and strongholds some of which have been held for generations and passed on. I am no psychologist by the way, but I believe these long-held attitudes are responsible for such thinking like for instance, that people who live abroad are superior to those who live in Uganda in some way. That those who wear imported apparel are better than those who wear locally tailored attire. Recently, the President advised Ugandans who are finding the cost of bread too high to go back to eating our cassava for breakfast. People’s eyes and veins popped out. Notwithstanding the health benefits therein. It’s the same mindset of looking down upon what is ours that sent us into an uproar. It’s so bad, we are at a point where being called local in Uganda is an ‘abuse’.
This is huge. Look at our music industry for instance. These predominantly youthful people in the music industry have made it big. The music industry in Uganda has been wholly embraced by the Ugandan public. Shows of local musicians like Sheeba, Chameleone, Bebe Cool are complete sellouts. Even for the newer ones like John Blaq, Fik Fameica or Zex Bilangilangi. Our musicians are celebrity stuff in Uganda and even beyond like Eddy Kenzo. Some FM radio stations only play local Ugandan music and have huge audiences. Musicians and others in entertainment are some of the richest people in the country. They have gotten so much success many have even gone into politics and are succeeding there also.
The music and entertainment industry in Uganda is supported by Ugandans and their success is there for all to see. Every month a new star comes onto the scene. Imagine if this support or this mindset for what is Ugandan, could be replicated in textiles and apparel, leather, electronics, packaging etc
Local musician Chameleon likes to boast that he is the one who kicked out Congolese music from Uganda. That’s interesting. We should get Ugandan apparel designers talking the same about kicking out Gucci, DKNY, Valentino, Pierre Cardin et al.
I am not advocating for import substitution but rather rooting for export promotion. Export promotion cannot be achieved if the local market does not embrace locally made goods and services. Before a product is accepted in foreign markets it needs to have a base in the local market. It’s the story of multi-national products and services. They all have a home market that provides some form of rear base.
How did it happen in the music industry? And why can we not replicate it in other sectors? The answer lies partly in quality. The productions we see in the music industry are on an international level. There are some music videos I have watched that would very well pass off as productions right out of Hollywood or Nollywood. The music and entertainment industry has not benefitted from any Government policy interventions. On the contrary a lot of the demands they have made on Government to protect them from piracy, taxation etc have largely been ignored. So maybe the absence of Government interventions is a plus. Who knows?
What is clear is that people will settle for nothing less than quality, period. The music and entertainment industry has demonstrated that.
There are some sectors like milk and dairy products, iron and steel, coffee, tea, beer and liquor, cosmetics and toiletries and packaging that are beginning to get embraced by the Ugandan consumer. Quality is still the major factor behind the acceptability of some of these products.
Promotion is another factor. The music and entertainment industry by its very nature espouses promotion because it engages masses of people through live audiences, television, radio and the new kid on the block, social media.
Government can deliberately give a hand up to different sectors of the economy with promotion. It is already doing a commendable job on quality through the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS). The UNBS is trying to reduce the space for substandard goods and counterfeits. This has somewhat convinced some people that quality is being taken seriously and hence mindsets are beginning to change but more still must be done.
Government should also prominently support Ugandan investors with promotion both locally and internationally. The Dubai Expo and others are a good thing but locally almost nothing is going on. There are some private sector-led activities like the UMA International Trade Fair and the Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) EXPO which could go so much further in promoting Ugandan brands and changing the mindsets of the Ugandan public if they were fully backed by the Government. This can be huge.
AGABA JULIUS ALFRED
The writer is a Director of Investment Review Publications Ltd. The official organizers of the annual Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) EXPO
