MTN Uganda Calls for Streamlined Processes to Boost Tourism Through Digital Connectivity
FORT PORTAL, UGANDA – At the #CEOForumUG2025 in Fort Portal Tourism City, industry leaders convened with a unified goal: to collaborate and transform Uganda into a premier global tourism destination. Among them, telecommunications giant MTN Uganda highlighted its pivotal role in this mission while calling for government intervention to overcome critical hurdles.
The forum, hosted by the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (@PCF_Uganda), brought together tourism stakeholders and policymakers to chart a course for the industry’s future. In her address, an MTN Uganda representative emphasized the company’s commitment to “driving the tourism revolution” by ensuring reliable digital connectivity reaches from Kampala to the most remote national parks, wildlife reserves, and heritage sites.
“Our 4G network bridges the world to Uganda, empowering every visitor to become a storyteller,” the statement read. This initiative, undertaken in partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (@ugwildlife) and under the guidance of the Uganda Communications Commission (@UCC_Official), focuses on expanding 4G coverage, enabling mobile money (MoMo) payments, and deploying smart tourism solutions nationwide.
However, MTN outlined significant challenges that are stifling the rapid deployment of this essential digital infrastructure. These obstacles include park entrance fees for engineers needing access to sites, prohibitively high rental costs for infrastructure in protected areas, and lengthy approval processes that delay project rollout.
To unlock what it called tourism’s “limitless potential,” MTN issued a call to action for the Government. The company urged for support in several key areas:
· Streamlining access protocols to protected areas for infrastructure development.
· Reviewing rental frameworks to make them more conducive to investment.
· Aligning regulations across different agencies to accelerate approvals.
· Integrating telecom infrastructure into national development projects from the outset, creating “digital corridors” alongside new roads, airports, and energy networks.
The argument made was that physical and digital infrastructure must go hand-in-hand: “Just as roads and airports bring visitors into Uganda, connectivity takes them deeper into the experience.”
The conclave ended on a note of fierce collaboration, with MTN expressing confidence that through sustained partnership between the private sector and the government, Uganda can indeed be transformed into the number one tourism destination. The event was capped with the hashtags #TogetherWeAreUnstoppable and #ShapingTheNation, underscoring the collective resolve to achieve this goal.
About The Author
