Uganda is your best destination for investment - Russian investors told

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of regional cooperation, John Mulimba has asked Russian investors to invest in Uganda because of the enormous advantages they will enjoy.

“Uganda has enormous investment potential as you may have noticed already. Opportunities exist in agro-processing for instance fruit juices, dairy products, tourism and hospitality, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals among others,”Mulimba said.

“You are therefore encouraged to take some time off your busy schedules and visit the country side to get a clear view of what am saying. “

The minister was speaking during the first Russia-Uganda Business Forum.

The Foreign Affairs minister underscored the importance of the forum in strengthening ties between the two countries.

“As you may recall, the Russia-Africa Summit held in Sochi in October 2019, emphasized the importance of strengthening trade relations between Russia and Africa. During this Summit, President Museveni held discussions with President Putin and a number of issues were raised including a call on Russian investors to come and invest in various sectors in Uganda,” he said.

“I am very pleased that the Russian Federation has taken this bold step to follow-up and implement the commitments which were made by our leaders in Sochi particularly to strengthen trade relations with Uganda. This Mission is therefore very crucial as a tool to implement the Sochi Summit outcomes.”

Minister Mulimba said that through the AFROCOM Center for Entrepreneurship, Ugandan business community will now interface with their Russian counterparts much easier than has been the case and that should in turn result into increased trade between the two countries.

I am confident that AFROCOM will enable Ugandans to access quality products, affordable and appropriate technologies from Russia.

Uganda’s ambassador to Russia, Johnson Olwa said the Ugandan Mission in Moscow will always be willing to help Ugandans carry out trade in Russia but also link Russians to Uganda for investment.

“In 2019,  the Mission came to a realization that the low trade volumes between Uganda and the  Russia Federation, the low level of Foreign Direct Investment  from the Russian Federation to Uganda  and the tourism inflow from the Russia  Federation to Uganda was due to lack of information about Uganda. The mission decided to adopt a new approach of promoting trade, investment and tourism  in the Russian Federation,”Olwa said.

He noted that the mission in 2019 launched the first ever Uganda Expo in Moscow that brought over 80 business representatives from Uganda to exhibit their products in Russia and the week-long event focusing on trade, investment, tourism and culture is now held annually and that soon it will be rotational in the different regions and cities in Russia.

“As a result coffee exports to the Russian Federation went up, some companies started to import fruits such as ovacado's and mangoes from Uganda and many Russians have picked interest in importing products from Uganda including cocoa and fish,” the Ugandan ambassador to Russia said.

He added that they have collaborated with the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry to establish cooperation with the chamber and different regional chambers of commerce and industry in Russia.

“The embassy is collaborating with stakeholders in Uganda like the Uganda Coffee Development Authority who have always sent representatives to participate in promotional events organized by the Mission. This could also be the reason why the coffee exports have gone up and more Russians are now showing interest of buying coffee directly from Uganda.”

Olwa revealed that a decision was made that Russian Trade Centers be opened in all the African countries and Uganda was chosen as the first country to have this implemented.

“Opening up a Russian Trade Center in Uganda provides mutual benefit to Ugandans and the Russians. The Russians will advertise their products including technology. The Ugandans will have access to see and test the technology which gives some kind of confidence to the buyer.”

The Russia-Uganda Business Forum will run until November 13.