From expulsion to expansion: How Indians returned to rebuild Uganda’s economy 

In 1972, Uganda’s military ruler Idi Amin gave the country’s Asian community, mostly Indians, just 90 days to leave.

They were accused of controlling wealth, exploiting locals and “milking Uganda’s money.” Shops, factories, banks, sugar mills and family businesses built over generations were abandoned almost overnight. Nearly 80,000 Indians and Ugandan Asians were forced into exile, scattering across Britain, Canada and India with little more than memories of a lost home and the uncertainty of survival.

What followed was one of post-colonial Africa’s most damaging economic collapses. At the time, Asians reportedly controlled nearly 90 per cent of Uganda’s businesses and contributed the overwhelming majority of the country’s tax revenues.

When they left, supply chains collapsed, industries weakened and investor confidence evaporated. Uganda’s GDP reportedly contracted by around five per cent between 1972 and 1975, while manufacturing output crashed from 740 million Ugandan shillings in 1972 to just 254 million by 1979.

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The expulsion revealed how deeply Indians had become woven into Uganda’s economic structure. Most Indian families in Uganda traced their roots to Gujarat and Punjab, arriving in East Africa during British colonial rule as railway workers, traders, accountants and small entrepreneurs.

Over decades, they built commercial networks spanning Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, gradually expanding into sugar, textiles, manufacturing, finance and wholesale trade.

Today, Uganda’s Indian-origin population is estimated at around 35,000 to 37,000 people. Despite accounting for less than 1 per cent of the population, the community contributes nearly 65 per cent of Uganda’s income tax revenues and maintains an outsized role in manufacturing, banking and trade. Then came the reversal.

When Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986, he openly admitted Uganda had made a historic mistake. He called Amin’s expulsion order “rubbish” and invited Indians back, promising political stability, property restoration and economic reforms. Uganda needed capital, entrepreneurship and investor confidence restored — and Indians became central to that revival.

Many returned cautiously. Some rebuilt from scratch. The most visible symbol of that comeback is Sudhir Ruparelia, today regarded as Uganda’s richest businessman. After fleeing to Britain during the expulsion, Ruparelia reportedly worked small jobs before returning to Uganda with just $25,000. Decades later, he built a sprawling empire across banking, insurance, hospitality, education, real estate and media.

But Uganda’s Indian economic story extends far beyond one billionaire.

The Madhvani Group remains one of Uganda’s largest industrial conglomerates and perhaps the country’s most historically significant Indian-origin business empire. Founded by Muljibhai Madhvani, who migrated from Gujarat in the early 20th century, the group built its fortune around sugar before expanding into tea, tourism, construction and manufacturing.

Its flagship company, Kakira Sugar Works, is Uganda’s largest sugar producer and among East Africa’s biggest agro-industrial employers. Before Amin’s expulsion order, the Madhvani empire stood among the pillars of Uganda’s economy. After losing its assets in 1972, the family rebuilt operations abroad before eventually returning when political conditions stabilised. Today, the group reportedly supports more than 70,000 jobs directly and indirectly across East Africa.

Another major pillar is the Mehta Group, founded by Nanji Kalidas Mehta, who arrived in Uganda as a teenager in the early 1900s. The group built major businesses in cotton, tea and sugar, including the Lugazi Sugar complex, another cornerstone of Uganda’s sugar industry.

Like the Madhvanis, the Mehtas lost their assets during Amin’s expulsion before eventually returning after political stabilisation. Mahendra Mehta later received India’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award for strengthening India-Africa commercial ties.

Then there is the Mukwano Group, founded by Indian-origin entrepreneurs and now one of Uganda’s most recognisable manufacturing brands. From soaps and plastics to edible oils, packaging and household consumer goods, Mukwano products became deeply embedded in everyday Ugandan life while creating thousands of jobs.

Indian-origin firms today have major footprints across sugar and agro-processing, steel, manufacturing, banking, hospitality, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education, real estate and urban construction. India-Uganda bilateral trade has crossed $1.2 billion, driven by investments in manufacturing, agriculture, services and infrastructure.

But the story remains more complex than economic success alone. The memory of 1972 still lingers in Uganda’s social fabric. Questions around inequality, labour rights and foreign economic dominance continue to surface. Yet many Ugandans also acknowledge the stabilising role played by Indian businesses, especially compared to criticism directed at some newer foreign investors. Some locals argue Chinese firms, despite major infrastructure investments, have shown less integration with local communities than Indian businesses historically did.

For Uganda’s Indian community, exile changed perspectives too. Business families who returned after decades abroad often speak about the need for stronger local integration, employment generation and deeper community engagement. The trauma of expulsion created a generation more conscious of acceptance and coexistence, not just commercial success.

More than five decades later, Uganda’s Indian story has come full circle. A community once driven out as outsiders returned to help rebuild the same economy that collapsed without them, turning exile into one of the most remarkable Indian diaspora comeback stories in modern Africa.