Uganda lost an estimated Shs360 billion in potential revenue last year after failing to host several international conferences it had bid for, the latest Auditor General’s report has revealed.
The report indicates that the loss was incurred despite government spending about Shs1.8 billion in efforts to attract conferences and international conventions to the country.
The recent Auditor General’s report faults the Uganda Convention Bureau (UCB) which is under the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) for failing to demonstrate whether public funds spent on bidding for conferences yielded any returns.
The report for the year ended December 31, 2025 shows that gaps in planning, coordination and evaluation within the Ministry of Tourism and UTB denied Uganda significant earnings from Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE), one of the tourism sector’s most lucrative segments.
“Out of the 45 bids submitted to international conference organisers, 18 representing 40% were dropped, 14 representing 31.1% were lost, and only 12 representing 26.7% passed,” the report, released last week, notes.
However, the financial loss worsened after Uganda failed to host most of the conferences it had successfully secured.
“Of the 12 bids won, only four conferences were successfully hosted in Uganda, while eight representing 67 percent did not take place,” the report adds.
As a result, the Auditor General estimates that the country lost potential MICE revenue worth $100m (about Shs360 billion).
This loss, the report added, extended beyond registration fees to include spending on hotels, transport, catering, tourism activities and other related services.
MICE tourism is regarded as a high-value segment in the country’s tourism promotion efforts, because delegates typically spend more than leisure tourists and often extend their stay.
The Auditor General warned that the missed conferences represented lost opportunities for foreign exchange earnings, employment creation and private sector growth.
The audit links the losses to uncompetitive bids and weak follow-up by responsible agencies.
“UTB and UCB did not achieve the target of 130 conferences and events from intergovernmental and non-governmental association meetings over the five years,” the report states.
International conference organisers often require guarantees on hotel quality, service standards and capacity, and the report suggests these gaps made Uganda less competitive compared to regional rivals.
The Auditor General further attributes the losses to weak coordination among government agencies, including the Ministry of Tourism, UTB, local governments and professional bodies such as the Uganda Hotel Owners Association.
While acknowledging improvements in tourist arrivals and Uganda’s international visibility, the report cautions that without urgent reforms the country will continue to lose high-value conference business to competitors such as Kenya and Rwanda.
It recommends the development of a comprehensive return-on-investment framework for MICE activities, stronger coordination in bidding and hosting conferences, and increased investment in tourism standards.
“Without these measures, Uganda risks continued financial losses from missed international conferences,” the report concludes.
