Hon. Amelia Kyambadde, Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives with Alvin Mbugua, UBL’s Managing Director
A partnership deal was struck between Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) and the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI) under the Raising the Bar program which will support bars to re-open safely & rebuild customer confidence.
This program is being facilitated under UBL flagship brand Bell Lager and will see the company inject a $1 Million fund towards the logistical and physical requirements of the program.
This program will be the driver to provide awareness training for bars, recreational facilities, and similar establishment personnel in the requisite knowledge, social distancing, and enhanced hygiene measures that are important in the prevention of COVID-19 transmission in establishments.
In March 2020, due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, the Government of Uganda announced the closure of bars among other businesses to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Even as some restrictions have been slowly lifted, the closure of bars and other recreational businesses remains in effect, a thing which has hurt economic activity resulting in loss of revenue and devastated livelihoods of many Ugandans.
“Bars are an integral part of Uganda’s socio-economic ecosystem. They provide employment both directly and indirectly, contribute significantly to real estate through rental incomes, contribute to the agricultural sector through sourcing of food supplies and Raw Materials and contribute to trade and several auxiliary services (security, transport, etc.).
COVID-19 has adversely impacted the different players within our value chain including farmers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and bartenders. Furthermore, the situation has been aggravated by the continued closure of the key retail outlets (bars) that stock and sell our products. An estimated number of One Million, Three Hundred Thousand (1,300,000) people formerly employed by this sector are now redundant, and an estimated revenue loss of UGX 2.5 trillion across the value chain is inevitable at the current rate of business operations.
Raising the Bar is a programme from the Diageo $100 Million Program that seeks to facilitate Diageo affiliates globally to support their local business partners and boost their capacity to reopen their businesses under the respective national guidelines.
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