Describes how widely e-Commerce is used, the primary sectors that sell through e-commerce, and how much product/service in each sector is sold through e-commerce versus brick-and-mortar retail. Includes what a company needs to know to take advantage of e-commerce in the local market and, reputable, prominent B2B websites.
Last Published: 7/21/2019

Though loosely regulated and informal, eCommerce contines to rapidly grow in Uganda due to the widespread use of “mobile money” (telephone-based financial transfers) and the rapid growth of mobile phone usage.  While there are only five million bank accounts in Uganda, there are about 22 million mobile money accounts. 

Currently, Uganda’s mobile money sector falls under the purview of the Uganda Communications Commission (which is not mandated to regulate financial transactions) and thus, is effectively unregulated.  However, under the National Payments Bill (currently before parliament), the BOU would regulate eCommerce and mobile money transactions.  The bill proposes to give the BOU broad oversight authority, including the power to block eCommerce and mobile money transactions when it deems necessary.

In 2018, the government  enacted a 0.5 percent tax on mobile money cash withdrawals and a $0.05 daily tax on social media usage.  One of Uganda’s largest telecommunication and mobile money providers reported that its mobile money transactions had declined by more than 50 percent as a result of the tax.   

B2B/B2C sellers typically market their goods and services online, with consumers and sellers connecting first by phone and then by physical meeting.  Payments are typically made in cash or by mobile money transfers.  Although shopping directly from a website is a relatively new phenomenon in Uganda, it is fast growing.  One key advantage for eCommerce in Uganda is the expanding middle class with a growing taste for U.S.  consumer items (regarded as being of superior quality than those from China and other countries).  Young people (18 to 30) constitute the bulk of online sellers and buyers. 

Advertising in Uganda’s eCommerce market remains largely unsophisticated and is mainly limited to social media platforms.  Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram and Twitter are the most commonly used online platforms in Uganda. 

Ugandan law provides for the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), but the enforcement mechanisms are weak. The country particularly lacks the capacity to prevent piracy and counterfeit distribution.  As a result, theft and infringement of intellectual property rights is common and widespread.  Uganda does not track seizures of counterfeit goods or prosecutions of IPR violations.   
 

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.