After two years of steady growth in outreach and revenue, Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) has launched the third phase of its Mass Business Registration Initiative with higher targets, sharper strategy, and a renewed focus on taking formal business services closer to communities across the country.
Launched in the 2023/24 financial year, the initiative aims to formalize Uganda’s economy by extending registration services to local communities, promoting the benefits of formalization, expanding the national business register, and increasing non-tax revenue collections.
In its first two years, the programme gained strong momentum, rising from 3,195 business registrations and Shs609m in non-tax revenue in its first year to 6,856 registrations and Shs3.89b in the second.
Now entering the 2025/26 financial year, URSB has set even more ambitious goals: registering 234,897 new businesses, including 137,906 business names and 96,991 companies, while targeting Shs24.65 billion in non-tax revenue.
URSB Registrar General Mercy K. Kainobwisho said the expanded campaign goes beyond numbers to empower entrepreneurs and strengthen Uganda’s economic base.
‘The Mass Business Registration Campaign is about more than numbers; it’s about empowering entrepreneurs, formalising enterprises, and unlocking opportunities for growth. This financial year, we aim to bring over 235,000 new businesses into the formal economy, strengthening Uganda’s economic fabric,’ she said.
The third phase will adopt a more targeted and inclusive approach, featuring two weeks of intensive registration activities in all cities and selected high-potential business communities.
The exercise will kick off in Kasubi and Nansana, before rolling out to Greater Kampala (Kampala, Wakiso, Entebbe, Mukono), all 10 cities such as Gulu, Jinja, and Mbarara, and over 20 additional districts from Kasese to Kotido.
To deepen community engagement, URSB will roll out a nationwide awareness campaign, offering on-spot registration support and follow-up with potential registrants to sustain momentum.
As the initiative enters its third year, URSB’s focus is shifting from registration numbers to lasting behavioural change, embedding a culture of formal business operations across Uganda.
With higher targets, broader reach, and refined strategies, the drive aims to accelerate Uganda’s transition toward a more inclusive, competitive, and revenue-generating economy, ensuring that formalisation becomes both accessible and beneficial to entrepreneurs nationwide.