Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ICT & National Guidance, Dr. Aminah Zawedde, URSB Board Chairman, Ambassador Francis Butagira, Registrar General, Ms. Mercy K. Kainobwisho cheer-on during the official launch of URSB’s Online Business Registration System.
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) has listed community mobilization and mindset change as well as digitization of services as key priorities areas for financial year 2024/25. This was revealed was by the Registrar General, Mercy K. Kainobwisho as she presented a comprehensive list of achievements to stakeholders during an engaging session held under the theme “Collaborating for Business Growth and Competitiveness Enhancement.”
The pivotal event held at the URSB headquarters in Kololo provided a platform to showcase the Bureau’s accomplishments, celebrate milestones, and reinforce the commitment to facilitating a conducive environment for business development and competitiveness in Uganda.
In her speech, the Registrar General said URSB would place focus on key growth areas through doubling public awareness campaigns, developing joint capacity-building programs to enhance the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of stakeholders in navigating registration processes, managing intellectual property rights, and complying with regulatory requirements, advocating for policy reforms, regulatory improvements, and legal reforms that support entrepreneurship, innovation, and business growth, leveraging technology and innovation to streamline registration processes and use of research, data, and insights on business trends to provide services that suit the needs of the citizens.
Among the achievements made so far, the Registrar General highlighted the successful implementation of the online business registration system (OBRS), which she says has significantly enhanced accessibility, efficiency, and convenience for businesses seeking registration services. The system, created in partnership with the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance was launched at the same occasion by the Permanent Secretary, Ms. Aminah Zawedde, accompanied by URSB Board Chairman, Ambassador Francis Butagira, and the Registrar General. By leveraging its cutting–edge features, OBRS has not only simplified the registration process but also enabled businesses to register seamlessly from any location, thereby promoting a more agile and competitive business environment.
The Registrar General listed other outstanding achievements including growth in non-tax revenue (NTR) which rose to UGX 71.1 Billion in the financial year 2022/2023, implementation of the mass business registration initiative that supported the registration of 20,160 new companies and 19,063 business names in the period July to March of FY 2023/24, protection of family through marriage registration, enabling the passing of regulations under the companies and insolvency acts, enhancing access to credit for MSMEs by integrating the Security Interest in Movable Property Registry (SIMPO) system with the motor vehicle registry at Uganda Revenue Authority, enabling automated and seamless lodging of caveats on motor vehicles used as collateral, as well as defending Uganda’s progress in addressing the outstanding issues regarding compliance with the Financial Action Point Task Force (FATF) standards which saw Uganda subsequently removed from the grey list.
Speaking at the event, Ambassador Francis Butagira said URSB’s strategic objectives have been geared towards meeting the needs of the business community and wider range of stakeholders.” The steady increase in our NTR collections is attributed to among other things, growing public knowledge of registration services, zero tolerance for corruption, and continuous automation and simplification of registration procedures” he said.
The Registrar General said URSB in its role as the national intellectual property office had increased registration of trademarks, innovations and creative works to promote business competitiveness and made progress in the amendment of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act 2006 where views were collected from writers, musicians, filmmakers, and visual artists among other stakeholders.
She added that as part of the campaign initiated by government to improve community mobilization and mindset change, URSB was promoting stakeholder awareness and participation in URSB services, strengthening client service feedback mechanisms and executing corporate social responsibility activities. “Over time, URSB has implemented various service delivery and efficiency initiatives to enhance its operations and better serve its stakeholders. These activities can be credited for the organisation’s impressive performance across all its services” Kainobwisho said
By engaging stakeholders, sharing best practices, and encouraging a culture of continuous improvement, URSB has created a vibrant ecosystem that nurtures entrepreneurship, spurs innovation, and enhances the competitiveness of businesses in Uganda.
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