Recently, the President of Kenya, H.E Dr. William Ruto, while addressing the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) talked of “cheap milk” coming from Uganda. H.E Ruto is our friend and a progressive leader in the region. In saying what he did, he was pointing out the fact that Uganda wasn’t adding value to its milk and was, thus, giving away more than it deserved.
What the Kenyan brother leader says should be a wakeup call for us not to let our milk and, indeed, any of our other products, go for giveaway prices on the international market. Good enough, H.E Ruto, did not say “bad quality milk”.
The only way we can work on this challenge is to add value on our products. I don’t know why this message is eluding some of our people. Is there any one among us who does not want to prosper?
On October 24, 2022, I was privileged to close a seminar on “Driving Uganda’s Export base” called by the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development. The committee shared calculations (ebibalo) which are indeed an eye opener for our entrepreneurs and business people and which need to be disseminated widely and adopted if our people are to master the art of money making.
President Yoweri Museveni has, for long, laboured on the issue of expanding our export potential through value addition. He has done hos best to open our eyes to the opportunities. However, few of our people have taken this message seriously but we will continue preaching it until we squeeze every shillings from what we produce.
There is no doubt that if we increase our exports, Uganda will be able to achieve Middle-Income status faster and we will generally reduce poverty levels. The unprocessed goods we export in form of raw materials are greatly affecting performance of our economy. We earn very little from them and yet we pay expensively for the finished products that are derived from them in form of imports.
It is, therefore, very crucial that we put our emphasis on value addition of our local products.
Uganda is blessed with fertile soils and a favourable climate which we should take advantage of in order to promote modern agriculture.
I am happy that the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development is now active on ground, on the advice of H.E the President. Putting into practice and promoting the president’s ideas is the bridge.
As the Minister in Charge of the Presidency, I pledge to support initiatives that ensure that the objectives of the Committee are fully realised. There should be regional level engagements to enable more Ugandans appreciate the importance of value-addition and targeting the international market with high quality value-added products.
The markets are available here and abroad, but our business people have not been keen and serious on the issue of value addition.
Later, I travelled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where I represented the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio Rt. Hon. Hajat Lukia Isanga Nakadama to address the annual Uganda -UAE Convention which is also aimed at boosting our export potential. The Expo ran from 28th –31st OCTOBER 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dubai under the theme: “Uganda, the Cardinal Trade and Investment Hub Within the African Continental Free Trade Area”.
There were many Ugandan companies exhibiting our products at the Expo and I was happy with this because Dubai is a global business hub that gives a big platform to market the good things about Uganda.
The Uganda Government, through the National Development Plan (NDP) III, has prioritized increased agricultural production, coupled with value addition of our produce to expand our development. This is further emphasized through the formation of the SACCO groups being supported through the Parish Development Model (PDM). We are hopeful that through such programmes the farmers and companies adding value to our produce will be able to increase productivity and need markets for our produce. This is the message I gave to the Expo-goers and staff at one mission in UAE.
My job was really to define the role of Ugandans on kyeeyo in the economy back home. I appealed to them to use this as an opportunity to participate in this avenue of adding value to our products and marketing them. I also told them about Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), the Agricultural Loan Programme at the Bank of Uganda (BOU) and the Development Bank Schemes that are all established to assist them in these ventures.
I appealed to all our Diasporians to you to utilise these schemes, and embrace these programmes where they can get engaged in searching for global markets and export ventures to showcase our products. I also advised them to invest in Treasury Bills and Bonds with BOU, whereby by the time they are done with their contracts, their money will have made more money for them.
I further informed them that Uganda’s tax policy is among the most favourable, for example, an investor can be given a Corporate Tax Holiday Certificate of 10 Years in Uganda if their minimum investment amount is $ 10 Million. The threshold is lower for local firms, meaning that our own people can invest what they have sweated for and reap fortunes.
I commended Ugandans working in the UAE for annually sending up to US2million dollars which is a big contribution to our economy.
Lastly, I announced that money amounting to 100,000 US Dollars pledged by H.E the President to their SACCO was now available in addition to 50,000 US dollars for operating their office. This will make coordination of promotional activities and management of their affairs easier.
Uganda and its products are much sought after on the world market. Let us utilise every opportunity to rake in every currency to ably turn our nation into a modern and prosperous economic and industrial hub. I have no doubt that our Kenyan brethren will willingly pay a little more of their shillings for our milk products when we add value for their total satisfaction.
The author is the Minister for the Presidency
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