UGANDA-S. AFRICA | BUSINESS | SUMMIT

PRETORIA - The first Uganda-South Africa, Trade, Tourism and Investment Summit gets underway Monday (today) in Pretoria, South Africa. 

The summit that ends on Wednesday is expected to attract 300 delegates, both private and public, who include the business community, heads of government agencies, and policymakers among others, according to Uganda Investment Authority (UIA). 

UIA says that the summit will provide a platform for the private sector, government and business regulatory agencies to exchange views, ideas, and information on how to facilitate investment and also identify existing business and investment opportunities for Uganda. 

Areas of discussion at the summit include Tourism, Trade and Investment, Finance, Insurance, Professional Service, Manufacturing, Mining, Energy Resources, Agro-processing, ICT, Power Generation, education, and Infrastructure development among others. 

The summit was organised by the Uganda High Commission to South Africa, in partnership with Private Sector Foundation Uganda, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Cooperatives, will be graced by the heads of state of the two countries, President Yoweri Museveni and President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

While addressing the press at the Uganda Media Centre early in February, Uganda’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Paul Amoru, said Ugandans will benefit from the summit through business-to-business meetings which will help them understand the realities of doing business between the two countries. 

“If goods and persons are able to move freely, between the two countries, we are going to empower our people and bring in more money in the economy and also grow the country’s GDP, which now stands at $50bn compared to $420bn for South Africa,” explained Amoru. 

Steven Asiimwe, the executive director of Private Sector Foundation Uganda added that after the conference, the business community will link up with private sector players in South Africa, for continuous discussion that will grow Uganda’s exports to South Africa. 

Uganda’s exports to South Africa stood at $11.41m in 2020 according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.