Lord Popat addressing business and government officials

Lord Popat, the British premier’s trade envoy to Uganda, is in the country to strengthen trade ties between the two countries.

Yesterday, he addressed the local business community and government officials during the Agri-connect conference at Serena Hotel. Lord Popat said government should help exporters add value to their exports if they are to get reasonable profits from the bilateral trade.

“Value addition means I eat a fresh fruit here in Kampala and also eat it in the UK, I don’t need the whole of it, but I need it properly packaged,” he said.

He also noted with disappointment that currently, Uganda’s exports to the UK account for just £2m (about Shs 9.3bn) annually hence the aim of his visit is to see that the figures go up. Uganda’s major exports to the European Union include coffee, tea, fish, flowers and cocoa powder. For this to happen, he said government needs to take the lead in giving direction to the exporters.

“Regional markets are very convenient, and it is becoming easier to trade across borders thanks to initiatives like Trade Mark East Africa for which the UK funds 70 per cent; by bringing UK companies to Uganda…”

The Agri-connect conference is hosted by the UK’s Department for International Trade in collaboration with Uganda Export Promotion Board and seeks to expand the UK’s investment in developing new supply chains in the agricultural sector in Uganda.

“We want to sustain an increase in exports to the UK because it makes business sense to Ugandans,” he said. “The idea of the conference was about strategically building trade between our nations and teasing out the barriers and the missed opportunities so that we can grow mutual prosperity between us,” he said.

As part of the process, the ministry of Agriculture recently signed a £120 million (Shs 560bn) memorandum of understanding with two UK companies; Alvan Blanch and COLAS UK Ltd, to develop agro-processing plants in Uganda.

This is part of a £600 million UK Export Credit that is available to Uganda and is already financing the construction of Hoima International Airport and Kampala Industrial Business Park Namanve.

Flight charges affecting export UK

Julius Peter Moto, the Ugandan high commissioner to UK, said flight charges have proved to be the biggest hindrance to trade between the two countries. Moto also observed that quality and quantity is a challenge hence the government should come in and put up infrastructure that will facilitate international trade.

“The challenge is that there is no direct trade from Uganda to UK, most of the exports must go through other countries thus increasing the costs of doing business,” he said.

Frederick Ngobi Gume, the minister of state for Cooperatives, said Uganda is committed to improving the business environment and has taken a strategic direction to embrace the liberal trade policy.

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