Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | King Mswati III of Eswatini has today visited the he Kiira Vehicle Plant and has hailed Uganda for having a project of this magnitude being undertaken – in Africa and which is 100% owned, driven, and operated by Africans.
He also welcomed a proposal to build a partnership and synergies between Uganda and Eswatini towards localising the manufacture of vehicle components by African nations to make Africa a global automotive hub. His visit comes ahead of the first-ever Uganda e-Mobility Expo which is slated to happen tomorrow .
The King – who is in Uganda for a three-day state visit to Uganda at the invitation of President Yoweri Museveni – was taken on a brief tour of the state-of-the-art plant by Kiira Motors Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer – Paul Isaac Musasizi.
While at the plant, Mswati also planted a tree as a show of commitment towards environmental sustainability.
The plant is currently at 95% completion since construction commenced in 2019 as part of Kiira Motors’ vision to be the best-in-class motor vehicle manufacturer in Africa by championing value addition in Uganda’s nascent motor vehicle industry.
The visit came ahead of the inaugural Uganda e-Mobility Expo and Kiira Vehicle Plant (KVP) Open House – which will bring together over 200 industry leaders, investors from across the globe, value chain players, policymakers, innovators, and many more to discuss the strides made in Uganda’s ambition to position itself as a net source of e-mobility solutions in Africa.
Held under the theme ‘The Future is Green; The Future is Now’, the expo will feature exhibitions from players in the e-mobility ecosystem such as Nexus Green, KaCyber Securities, and others.
Additionally, the event will feature several fireside chats and a panel discussion on ‘Capitalizing on Growing Mobility Demand’ with submissions from Bunmi Akinyemiju – Founder of Greenhouse Capital; Esther Ndeti – Investment Principal at Uncap; Ayo Sopitan – CEO of Metalex; Jakob Hornbach – CEO of Gogo Electric and; Ivan Kisembo – Head of the Project Preparation Unit at the Uganda Development Bank.