Museveni flags off Uganda's first powdered milk consignment to Algeria

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Uganda has taken a major step in boosting its agricultural exports, with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Thursday flagging off the country’s first consignment of powdered milk to Algeria.

The consignment—four containers carrying 500 metric tonnes of milk powder—is part of a broader shipment totalling 2,100 metric tonnes, valued at over $8 million.

The flag-off ceremony was held at State House Entebbe, attended by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, led by minister Frank Tumwebaze, and executives from Brookside Limited, the company exporting the milk.

This development stems from a Memorandum of Understanding signed in March 2023 during Museveni’s visit to Algeria, which opened up Algerian markets to Ugandan milk and coffee.

Minister Tumwebaze lauded the achievement, congratulating Brookside and the wider dairy sector.

“Algeria is a market we've been pursuing for some time. When the President visited that country in 2023, one of the bilateral negotiations and the MOU we signed was to allow our coffee and milk. I want to congratulate Brookside, as well as the dairy sector and its farmers, on the opening of this market,” he said.

Brookside Africa Limited’s director of finance, Kennedy Gatheru, hailed the partnership as a step toward broader trade opportunities.

“It's the beginning of many opportunities,” he said, while thanking President Museveni for his role in securing access to the Algerian market.

“From your personal trade intervention, and with your involvement, we are confident of securing further export opportunities for our range of dairy products.”

President Museveni poses for a photo with Brookside Africa officials before flagging off the company's milk products to Algeria at Entebbe on Thursday in an event witnessed by minister Frank Tumwebaze.

The development follows a meeting held on December 13, 2024, at State Lodge Nakasero, during which President Museveni hosted Ahmed Attaf, Algeria’s minister of foreign affairs and special envoy of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

During the meeting, Museveni welcomed the strengthening of Uganda-Algeria cooperation and praised the progress made in implementing bilateral agreements.

Attaf noted that Algeria aims to redirect its annual $700 million milk import bill towards Uganda, citing the high quality of Uganda’s fresh milk.