The National Enterprise Corporation (NEC), the business arm of the UPDF, has, in conjunction with STREIT (U) Ltd, launched their first armoured vehicle showroom outside their Nakasongola factory.
NEC-Streit, a joint venture between the two companies, was formed in 2022 to produce armoured vehicles, initially for the security forces, but later expanded to civilian use vehicles.
The showroom located at Abayita Ababiri along the Kampala-Entebbe road was aimed at easing access to the products, especially by civilians, since the factory is located in Nakasongola Army Base, a not-so-friendly environment to civilians, according to Lt Gen James Mugira, Managing Director at NEC.
Asked about the expected market, Gen Mugira said they have both the civilian and military clientele and vehicles suited for them, including in the regional export markets.
Mugira says the partnership between NEC and the United Arab Emirates-based company STREIT was coined partly as a way of developing the local industrial capacity, as well as saving the country the foreign exchange that is spent on importing such vehicles.
The vehicles, apart from the luxury ones purposely targeting civilians, are meant to serve as armoured ambulances, personnel carriers, anti-riot police vehicles, among others.
The Nakasongola plant can produce at least 40 vehicles per month, according to the Chairman of NEC-STREIT, Guerman Goutorov, and this is expected to grow with the demand for vehicles.
He expressed the importance of a local and regional armoured or military vehicle industry in the maintenance of peace and security, which, he says, are vital for economic stability and development.
On the capacity of Uganda to manufacture the vehicles, Goutorov said some of the parts of the vehicles are made from imported raw materials that are not available in the country.
The Civilian vehicles are priced starting at $100,000 dollars or about sh370 million onwards, but the Chairman says they have vehicles that can cost $1 Million (sh3.7 Billion).
The Showroom was opened on Wednesday by Huda Oleru Abason, the Minister of State for Defence and Veteran Affairs, who hailed the development as a way of strengthening Uganda’s growing security and industrial capacity.
“This new facility signifies Uganda’s commitment to becoming a regional hub for defence innovation and technology, and puts Uganda on the way to the industrialisation stage,” she said.
She said the local production facility would go a long way in saving money lost on foreign trips by government officials on “benchmarking”, adding that the country was becoming more self-sufficient.
She noted that the development was coming at a critical time when countries around the world were finding collaboration in military strategy more necessary to tackle the evolving challenges of insecurity.