Kiira Motors Corporation has retained Kyagaba & Otatiina Advocates, the Dentons firm in Uganda, to provide the services of General Counsel and Company Secretary. Dentons, the world’s largest law firm is driven to providing consistent and uncompromising quality and value to their clients in new and innovative ways.
The firm brings on board a wealth of experience from the Dentons global automotive and technology sector groups. Kiira Motors Corporation is excited to partner with the firm at a time when the automotive industry in Uganda is emerging with potential to contribute towards economic and social transformation.
Kiira Motors Corporation will leverage on this experience and utilise the firm’s global presence to promote automotive technology transfer with global industry players and encourage multi-sectoral backward, forward and lateral linkages along the automotive industry value chain for sustainability and competitiveness.
This comes at a time when Government of Uganda recognises the economic transformative opportunity in the upstream and downstream tiers of the domestic and regional Automotive Industry Value Chain. In 2018, Government approved a roadmap, and allocated resources for the establishment of the Kiira Vehicle Plant on 100 Acres of land at the Jinja Industrial and Business Park. The Kiira Vehicle Plant Phase I is designed for production of up to 22 Vehicles (Buses & Trucks including pickups) a Day/ 5,000 Vehicles a Year. Construction of the Kiira Vehicle Plant commenced in February 2019, undertaken by the UPDF through National Enterprise Corporation. Progress stood at 60% as of September 2020. Through technology transfer with China and utilizing production facilities at the Luwero Industries in Nakasongola, the Kayoola EVS, a premium zero-emissions City Bus with a range of 300km was developed and two units built and deployed on the road for market validation. The Kayoola EVS speaks to improved public transport, operational and fuel efficiency within our cities coupled with enhanced environmental stewardship.
The Kiira Vehicle Plant investment is expected to create over 14,000 jobs and catalyze investment by small and medium enterprises in the manufacture of vehicle parts, components and autonomy systems (brake pads, seats, bolts and nuts, bumpers, vehicle electronics, navigation system, digital mobility solutions such as ticketing and cashless payments management, among others). It is also projected to increase demand for the utilization of Uganda's natural resources such as steel from iron ore deposits; plastics from oil and gas, lithium ion batteries from graphite, lithium and cobalt deposits, vehicle upholstery and interior padding from cotton and leather, glass from silica and sand among others.