Date of publication:

01/09/2026

Uganda

Do domestic laws and policies provide for forcibly displaced and stateless persons to engage in self-employment?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

As per section 29(1)(e) (iv) of the Refugees Act (2006), a recognized refugee shall receive at least the same treatment accorded to aliens generally in similar circumstances relating to the right to engage in agriculture, industry, handicrafts, and commerce and establish commercial and industrial companies in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations in force in Uganda. In addition, the Refugees Regulations (2010) states that, recognized refugees with a valid identity card shall be entitled to the most favorable treatment accorded to foreign residents in similar circumstances with respect to engaging in gainful or wage-earning employment in Regulation 64.  While the Regulations have not explicitly included self-employment, the term “gainful employment” encompasses self-employment as it is prescribed as an alternative to “wage-earning” employment. 

Clause 4, Fourth Schedule of the Citizenship and Immigration Control Act (cap.66) on Class D (Business and trade) prescribes the classification of entry permits of foreigners intending to conduct business or trade in Uganda. It provides that a person intending to carry on a business or trade on his or her own account, or as partners in a firm in Uganda, or who satisfies the board that if a license is required to enable him or her to engage in the trade or business, he or she is in possession of such license or will be able to obtain one; and he or she has in his or her own right and at his or her full and free disposition such sum as may be prescribed by the responsible Ministry in respect of any particular trade or business. 

Uganda's incorporation and partnership laws, the Companies Act (2012) and the Partnerships Act (2010) respectively, permit any person including recognized refugees the right to establish companies and partnerships. However, a recent study conducted by ILO shows that, in practice, most business is conducted in the informal economy, without business registration which is also true of the economy as a whole, and for refugees who establish businesses.

The law that regulates cooperative organizations, the Cooperative Societies Act (1991), as amended, does not explicitly exclude refugees from establishing Cooperatives or being members of Cooperatives. Pursuant to section 13 of the Cooperative Societies Act, it is not explicitly required to be a Ugandan citizen in order to be a member of a cooperative. The specified provision states that anyone who has attained the age of 18 years and a resident within or in occupation of land within the society’s area of operation as prescribed by the relevant By-law could join a cooperative.  However, a refugee or foreigner may not be a “beneficial owner” of a cooperative society given that the Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act (2022) introduces a new section 12A to the Act, which states that a cooperative society with beneficial owners should register them with National Identification Numbers (NIN). Notably, NINs are not issued refugees and other foreigners under the Registration of Persons Act (2015), which is specifically not applicable to refugees. A “beneficial owner” is a natural person who ultimately owns or controls a cooperative society or a natural person on whose behalf a transaction is conducted in the cooperative society.

The Trade (Licensing) Act (cap.101), as amended in 2015, prohibits non-citizens who are not citizens of a Partner State of the East African Community from trading (a) outside any city, municipality, or town; (b) to trade in any trading centre in respect of which the Minister has made an order prohibiting trade therein by non-citizens, (c) to trade in any area of any city, municipality or town which has been declared to be a general business area; or (d) trade in specified goods which are not endorsed on his or her license. Notably, these restrictions do not apply to companies or firms composed of both Uganda citizens and non-citizens. Nevertheless, the Trade (Licensing) Act does not apply to agricultural produce, crafts made by the refugee at his or her residence, or market trade under the Markets Act (2023).

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    The Constitution of The Republic of Uganda

    Legal provision

    Article 40(2) - Economic Rights

    Every person in Uganda has the right to practice his or her profession and to carry on any lawful occupation, trade or business.

    The Refugees Act (2006)

    Legal provision

    Section 29 (1) (e) (iv) -- Rights of Refugees Access to Employment

    A recognised refugees, shall subject to this Act, the OAU Convention (Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa), and the Geneva Convention (Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and the Protocol (1967)) -- (e) (vi) receive at least the same treatment accorded to aliens generally in similar circumstances relating to -- the right to have access to employment opportunities and engage in gainful employment.

    The Refugees Regulations (Uganda)

    Legal provision

    Regulation 64 -- Access to Employment

    A person who has been granted refugee status and is in possession of a valid identity card issued by the Commissioner for Refugees, shall, in order to facilitate his or her local integration, be allowed to engage in gainful or wage-earning employment on the most favourable treatment accorded to foreign residents in similar circumstances; except that recognised refugees shall exceptionally be exempt from any requirement to pay any charges or fees prior to the taking up of any offer of or to continue in his or her employment.

    Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control Act

    Legal provision

    Clause 5. Fourth Schedule (ss. 53, 54) -- Classes of entry permits

    Class D (Business and trade): A person intending to carry on a business or trade on his or her own account, or as partners in a firm in Uganda, or who satisfies the board that— (a) if a licence is required to enable him or her to engage in the trade or business, he or she is in possession of such licence or will be able to obtain one; and (b) he or she has in his or her own right and at his or her full and free disposition such sum as may be prescribed by the responsible Ministry in respect of any particular trade or business.

    The Trade (Licensing) Act (Cap.101)

    Legal provision

    Section 8 -- Trading prohibited without a trading licence.

    (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall trade in any goods or carry on any business specified in the Schedule to this Act unless he or she is in possession of a trading licence granted to him or her for that purpose under this Act. (2) No trading licence shall be required in any event for— (a) the trade of a planter, farmer, gardener, dairyperson or agriculturist in respect of the sale of his or her own dairy or agricultural produce; (b) the trade of a person in respect of goods bona fide made by him or her by his or her handicraft in or on any premises where he or she normally resides, or by the handicraft of persons normally residing with him or her or who are his or her employees or members of his or her family; (c) the trade carried on in any market established under the Markets Act; (d) the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, newspapers, books, nonintoxicating liquor or playing cards by the management of a proprietary or members club to its members in the club premises; (e) any other trade which the Minister may, by statutory instrument, declare to be a trade for which no trading licence is required under this Act; or (f) any trade or business in respect of which a separate licence is required by or under any written law.

    The Cooperative Societies Act

    Legal provision

    Section 13 -- Qualifications for membership

    (1) In order to be qualified for membership of a registered society, a person, other than a registered society or a company incorporated under the Companies Act or an unincorporated body of persons permitted to become a member under section 15, shall— (a) have attained the age of eighteen years; and (b) be a resident within or in occupation of land within the society’s area of operation as prescribed by the relevant byelaw. (2) A person above the age of twelve years may become a member of a society, but such a person shall not be eligible to act as a committee member of the society until he or she has reached the age of eighteen years. (3) When, for the purpose of this section, any question arises as to the age of any person, that question shall be decided by the registrar, whose decision shall be final.

    Section 12A - Register of Beneficial Owners

    (1) A cooperative society with beneficial owners shall keep a register of its beneficial owners and shall enter in the register the following particulars- (a) the names, contact and postal addresses of each beneficial owner; (b) the national identification numbers (NIN) of the beneficial owners; (c) the nature of the beneficial ownership; (d) the date on which each beneficial owner was entered in the register as a beneficial owner; (e) the date on which any person ceased to be a beneficial owner; and (f) any other information as the Minister may prescribe by regulations.