Local content practices and local firm participation in the road construction sector of Uganda: a case study of local firms
Abstract
The study sought to examine the local content practices that can be implemented to promote local firm participation in road construction sector of Uganda. Emphasis was on assessing how local procurement, technology and supplier development programs affects local firm participation in road construction sector of Uganda. The study was motivated by the observed huge budget allocations being channeled to road construction sector in Uganda and yet the percent of local firms winning the procurement contracts still remains low. The study used a cross sectional survey design where both quantitative and qualitative data was collected from a sample of 198 contractors and suppliers of road construction materials using cluster sampling and simple random sampling methods. Prerequisite tests were carried out where data was tested for normality and multicollinearity. 157 questionnaires were filled and submitted online through the use of Kobo Toolbox. A multiple regression model was performed to establish the percent of variation in local firm participation caused as a result of local content practices of local procurement, technology and supplier development programs. Findings revealed that only 53.8% of the variations in local firm participation is explained by the three constructs that measured local content practices, where local procurement was the most predictor of the variance in local firm participation and also significant (β1= 0.223, t= 4.077, sig = 0.000) followed by supplier development programs with (β1= 0.579, t= 6.889, sig = 0.000). However, technology was insignificant with (β1= 0.151, t= 1.797, sig = 0.074). The study recommends that; specialized institutions be developed to meet the demand for skilled labour force, government of Uganda should put in place limitation on the number of expatriates employed with the view of creating jobs for the nationals, continue to re-enforce reservation schemes and preference margins in the road construction sector to encourage the use of locally available goods and services, establishment of government funded research and development centers to transfer technology to local firms at a lower price, signing of technology transfer agreements between foreign companies and the government of Uganda to allow local firms in the road construction sector to benefit from usage of such technology and finally local firms should be mandated by laws in place to train nationals with the view of gaining skills and experience.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Contract administration and contract performance in local governments of Uganda a case study of Mitooma district local government
Atamba, Keleth (Kyambogo University (unpublished work), 2019-11)Contract administration is a key component of contract management that ensures that post award contract activities are hand led carefully and responsibly so that the real outcomes from the contract can serve and satisfy ... -
Organizational attributes and adoption of electronic procurement in local governments: a case study of Tororo district local government
Owere, Becholas (Kyambogo University, 2021-04)The study examined the organizational attributes associated with the current status of e-government procurement adoption in Uganda’s local government sector studying the case of Tororo district local government. The study ... -
Local content strategies and procurement participation by local firms in the oil and gas industry of Uganda
Nagudi, Regina (Kyambogo University, 2019-11)The study set out to establish the effect of the local content strategies of promotion of business competitiveness, use of locally produced goods/services, technology transfer and local firm’s participation in the oil and ...