President Yoweri Museveni has said the main problem of Africa is social backwardness where people are still using muscle power for the hoe and carry children on their back among others.
Museveni said society is always moving forward and about 600 years ago Europe which was also like Africa had started shifting from muscle power to using machines in what has always been termed as the first industrial revolution.
The second revolution, he said was electricity and the third one was automation well as they are now entering the fourth one, also known as artificial intelligence.
“That technological gap is the big problem for our people here,” he said.
The president, accompanied by the First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni was on Tuesday hosting the Liberian Vice President Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor at State House Entebbe.
Taylor, who was accompanied by her Chief of Staff George Nimely is in Uganda on a working visit.
“Of course, here in Uganda, it is easy for people to survive, except COVID- 19 is the one which is killing them now. Otherwise people can stay and eat from relatives because Uganda is so rich [with] a lot of natural resources, a lot of water…they don’t work; so they were not working except the British forced them by beating them with the whip but without the whip they don’t work but for us we are using sensitization,” Museveni said.
He noted that whereas people know how to work for food, the big structural problem of society is working for money which, an idea he said is not strong.
“Even by 2014, as you will read in my documents, 68% of the homesteads were still working only for the stomachs-only for eating. But we tell them to join the money economy. This has been our battle,” he said.
The president said if leaders are clear about the socio-economic transformation of their societies they can change.
Museveni said Liberia has got huge deposits of iron ore that they can exploit and supply to Africa.
“You have got, I think, four billion tonnes of iron ore. So you should be supplying the whole of Africa. I asked Sirleaf (Former President) why she doesn’t build a steel industry for the whole of Africa. Here we have got only I think 500 million tonnes, but we are building a steel industry.”
He added, “You should struggle very hard and build a steel industry. Apart from rubber, you (Liberians) also have iron ore.”
Museveni said when iron ore is exported unprocessed, economies are cheated.
“They are cheating you. Ugandans wanted to export iron ore but I stopped them. They were going to pay the Indians 47$ per ton and then they take the iron ore to India and turn it into steel. Our iron ore here is very good. It is 70% pure. So when you take a ton of iron ore, you get 700kg out of it but they were going to pay them 47$ per ton and when they (Indians) transform it for them they get 550$. I said over my dead body. This will not happen when I am here.”
“I stopped it but it is not just the money. It is the jobs because when the iron ore goes to India the people who will be working in the factories will not be the American-Liberians. You are donating money but also donating jobs,” he said.
Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor thanked the president and the First lady for the warm welcome and said they have had a very interesting trip.
She said after years of crisis, Liberia is coming along despite some challenges.
“Its work in progress after 30 years of crisis, its rebuilding. We have to give appreciation to H.E Sirleaf for putting the framework back in place. There are many business opportunities. I have talked to the Ministry of Trade here about some of the opportunities,” she said.
