Private Sector Foundation Uganda

What Private Sector Foundation Uganda does

Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), founded in 1995 and headquartered in Kampala, is Uganda's officially designated apex body for the private sector. It serves as the convening institution between government, multilateral donors, and over 300 member business associations and corporate bodies spanning 10 economic sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, banking, ICT, tourism, and services. PSFU maintains institutionalised policy dialogue with the Government of Uganda, acts as the national focal point for the East African Business Council (EABC) and the COMESA Business Council (CBC), and organises trade missions and conferences (EATIX Oman, SelectUSA, Iran-Africa Conference, Dar es Salaam Trade Fair) to connect Ugandan firms with regional and international markets.

PSFU delivers a portfolio of programs and platforms rather than a single product. Core offerings include the START Facility and START II Facility (blended financing for agribusiness SMEs in partnership with EU, UNCDF, Uganda Development Bank, and Aceli Africa), the INVITE Project (World Bank-financed industrial transformation), the GROW Project (women enterprise productivity), the Skills Development Facility, the LNOB Results-Based Financing project with GIZ EnDev, the Online Business Directory, and the MSME Financing Gateway developed with the International Trade Centre. Underlying technology is conventional web infrastructure; PSFU's functional advantage is organisational rather than technical.

The organisation is funded primarily through tiered membership fees (Platinum, Corporate, Medium, Associate, Regional BMO, Small) and through implementation fees and grants from donor-funded projects with the World Bank, European Union, UNCDF, GIZ, ITC, and UNDP. It is governed by a 15-member Board elected at Annual General Meetings, with Mr. Humphrey Nzeyi elected Chairman in November 2022 and Stephen Asiimwe serving as Chief Executive Officer.

Name

Private Sector Foundation Uganda

Legal name

Private Sector Foundation Uganda

Website

https://psfuganda.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) is the apex body for Uganda's private sector, convening government, 300+ member organizations across 10 sectors, and multilateral donors to deliver policy advocacy, trade facilitation, and donor-funded enterprise development programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Sector Development Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA), Institutional Capacity Building & Training (Workforce/Systems Strengthening) (BPADAEAC)

Keywords

• Private sector advocacy
• Business membership services
• Policy dialogue facilitation
• SME development programs
• Capacity building services

Headquarters

HQ city

Kampala

HQ country

Uganda

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: PSFU is a membership-based organization with over 300 business associations, corporate bodies, and public sector agencies as members. Annual membership fees support core operations.
2. Government Project Implementation: PSFU serves as government's implementation partner for donor-funded projects targeting private sector strengthening. Projects include INVITE (World Bank financed), START Facility (EU/UNCDF), Skills Development Facility, and others.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

PSFU is Uganda's apex body for the private sector, operating as a membership-based organization that advocates for private sector interests, facilitates policy dialogue with government, and implements donor-funded development projects. It delivers a portfolio of programs including agricultural financing facilities (START, START II, INVITE), skills development, business development services, an online business directory, and an MSME Financing Gateway platform to strengthen Uganda's private sector.

Product overview

Private Sector Foundation Uganda operates as an apex body for Uganda's private sector, functioning as a membership organization that provides advocacy, capacity building, and policy dialogue services. Rather than offering a single product, PSFU delivers a portfolio of programs and platforms including agricultural financing facilities (START Facility, START II, INVITE), skills development programs, an Online Business Directory, an MSME Financing Gateway platform, and various enterprise development initiatives. These programs are primarily funded through partnerships with international development organizations including the World Bank, European Union, UNCDF, GIZ, and are designed to strengthen the private sector as an engine of economic growth in Uganda.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• START Facility Blended financing facility supporting SMEs in agricultural value addition in Northern Uganda, providing access to affordable medium-term finance through Business Development Services, project structuring, and concessional loans (12% p.a., up to 96 months tenure) via Uganda Development Bank.
• INVITE (Investment for Industrial Transformation and Employment) Project providing development finance to manufacturing and exporting sectors through the INVITE Trust mechanism with Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Bank of Uganda as Trustees.
• START II Facility Second phase of the Support to Agricultural Revitalization and Transformation Facility designed to promote inclusive economic growth and job creation by investing in sustainable and integrated agribusiness SMEs across Uganda.
• Skills Development Facility Capacity building and training programs for private sector enterprise development in Uganda.
• GROW (Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises) Project Project focused on generating growth opportunities and productivity for women enterprises in Uganda.
• LNOB RBF (Leave No One Behind Results Based Financing) Project Results-based financing project implemented in partnership with GIZ EnDev Uganda, providing solar energy access to over 8,400 households in refugee and host communities.
• Online Business Directory Online directory platform for business listings connecting Ugandan businesses and providing visibility for member organizations.
• Business Development Standards (BDS) Program Program providing Business Development Services training and certification support for enterprises across Uganda.
• Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project Project aimed at enhancing competitiveness and enterprise development in Uganda.
• MSME Financing Gateway Platform implemented in partnership with International Trade Centre (ITC) for onboarding Business Development Service Providers and financial institutions to facilitate MSME financing.

Named customers7 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and moderate.

• Climate Change Hub InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2026Signed MoU on March 19, 2026 with Uganda's Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change (UPFCC) along with Climate Change Hub International to strengthen climate governance, legislative capacity, and stakeholder coordination. Partnership aims to establish a Carbon Credit Secretariat.
• GIZ (EnDev Uganda)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026GIZ implements the Energising Development (EnDev) programme in partnership with PSFU and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD). The partnership concluded a demand-side subsidy pilot expanding clean energy access for refugees and host communities.
• Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026PSFU partnered with AGRA to launch a Regional Industrialisation Conference 2026 to drive East Africa's industrial transformation, and to launch nationwide study findings on Contract Farming in Uganda.
• Aceli AfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnder START II Facility, UNCDF partners with Aceli Africa to provide investment readiness and matching support to agricultural SMEs, enabling them to access financing on commercial terms through partner financial institutions and impact investors.
• International Trade Centre (ITC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSFU partnered with ITC to onboard Business Development Service Providers onto the MSME Financing Gateway platform. ITC provides technical support for SME financing and market access programs.
• UNDPmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with UNDP in transforming PSFU into a private sector think tank and innovation hub with a new stable platform for growth and sustainable development.
• Government of UgandacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSFU maintains institutionalised dialogue with government on behalf of the private sector. It serves as government's implementation partner for several projects and programmes aimed at strengthening the private sector as engine of economic growth. Collaboration spans Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy, Office of Prime Minister.
• East African Business Council (EABC)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPSFU is the national focal point for the East African Business Council. Using this platform, PSFU has spearheaded Trade Policy and Trade Development agenda on behalf of Uganda's business community, directly engaging with regional policy platforms.
• COMESA Business Council (CBC)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPSFU serves as the national focal point for the COMESA Business Council, enabling Uganda's private sector to engage with the broader COMESA regional integration agenda.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA): Kenya's apex body for the private sector with an analogous mandate to PSFU: convening business associations, representing them to government, implementing donor-funded programmes, and serving as the EABC/CBC national focal point. Same role, peer geography.
• Private Sector Federation (PSF) Rwanda: Rwanda's umbrella private sector body with a chamber structure and government dialogue mandate. Closely comparable to PSFU in function — apex-body advocacy, capacity building, donor programme implementation — operating in a neighbouring East African market.
• Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF): Tanzania's apex private sector foundation, also an EABC/CBC national focal point. Performs the same triad of policy advocacy, capacity building, and donor-funded project implementation as PSFU, making it the closest functional mirror in the East African Community.
• Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE): Uganda's national employers' federation operating in the same Kampala ecosystem as PSFU, representing employers on labour, policy, and competitiveness issues. Overlapping membership with PSFU and partially overlapping mandate, particularly on enterprise development and skills.

Regional players

• East African Business Council (EABC): Regional apex body for the private sector across the East African Community, of which PSFU is Uganda's national focal point. EABC operates one tier above PSFU, convening national apex bodies to drive regional trade policy — a natural upward counterpart and channel partner.
• COMESA Business Council (CBC): The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa's private sector body, also engaging PSFU as a national focal point. Operates a similar convening function across a wider African geography, comparable in mandate and donor-funded programme structure.

Others

• Uganda Investment Authority (UIA): Statutory agency responsible for investment promotion in Uganda, partnering with PSFU on investor outreach and trade missions. Adjacent rather than competing: UIA handles investment promotion while PSFU represents the existing private sector base.
• International Trade Centre (ITC): UN/WTO joint agency partnering with PSFU on the MSME Financing Gateway and SME capacity-building programmes. ITC is a funder/technical partner and a global reference point for the kind of trade-and-SME development work PSFU implements at country level.
• GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit): German development agency partnering with PSFU on the EnDev Uganda clean energy access pilot. GIZ is a key institutional donor and co-implementer of PSFU programmes, making it a comparator for the development-partner side of PSFU's revenue base.

Emerging players

• Aceli Africa: Blended finance facility co-implementing START II with PSFU to provide investment readiness support to agri-SMEs. Aceli is an emerging specialist in the same SME-finance capacity-building space where PSFU operates, with a narrower geographic and sector focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/PSF_Uganda
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/psfu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments1 record

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Frequently asked questions about Private Sector Foundation Uganda