Uganda To Establish Three More Presidential Industrial Skilling Hubs

By Mintesinot Nigussie  |  August 26, 2026

Uganda will establish three additional Presidential Industrial Skilling Hubs in Ntungamo, Bushenyi and Kalangala districts to expand access to vocational training for young people and ease pressure on existing centres.

Two of the facilities will be built in the Ankole sub-region, while the third will be established in Kalangala to serve young people in the island district, where access to mainland training centres is constrained by travel costs and distance.

State House Comptroller Jane Barekye announced the plans on August 24, 2026, during stakeholder engagements at the Ankole and Greater Masaka Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hubs.

The Ankole hub currently serves 17 administrative units, including districts, municipalities and a city. Barekye said some of these units receive an average of just 14 training slots per intake, compared with more than 25 slots allocated to some other zones.

The additional facilities are expected to reduce competition for training places and allow more young people to acquire skills that can be used for employment or income-generating activities.

In Greater Masaka, the Kalangala hub will divide the administrative units currently served by the existing centre between two facilities. Each hub will serve five administrative units once the new centre becomes operational.

Construction of the three hubs will begin after the respective local governments identify and formally provide suitable land for the projects, according to Barekye.

The expansion will also bring additional vocational courses to the programme. Presidential Projects and Industrial Hubs Director Raymond Kamugisha said weaving and knitting, plumbing, electrical installation and electrical wiring will be introduced on the directive of President Yoweri Museveni.

The government has also eased admission requirements for vulnerable young people who do not have National Identification Cards. Kamugisha said such applicants can use recommendation letters from their LC1 chairpersons while efforts are made to obtain the required identification documents.

The move is intended to prevent lack of national identification from excluding vulnerable young people from vocational training.

Meanwhile, State House officials raised concerns over the low uptake of SACCO loans among graduates, despite financing being available to help them establish income-generating activities. Kamugisha urged beneficiaries to use the financing to turn their acquired skills into businesses and employment.

Rodgers Bulegeya, chairperson of the Greater Masaka Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub, called for a substantial increase in enrolment, proposing that beneficiaries per district rise from 24 to 100.

The proposed hubs are expected to expand the reach of the government’s vocational training programme while reducing pressure on existing facilities.

Source: FSX Business News