'Uganda will not export crude oil'
Jun 17, 2008
UGANDA will not export crude oil but have it refined to maximise returns from exploration. This was announced by President Yoweri Museveni at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) first business forum in Kampala yesterday.
By Sylvia Juuko
and James Odomel
UGANDA will not export crude oil but have it refined to maximise returns from exploration. This was announced by President Yoweri Museveni at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) first business forum in Kampala yesterday.
“I have held a meeting with companies producing oil,†he told the over 500 delegates from 57 Muslim countries.
“They wanted to build a pipeline. But I told them there will be no export of crude oil from Uganda. We have to refine it here.â€
To thunderous applause, he added: “If they want to build a pipeline, the oil can stay here. After all, it has been here for the last 20 million years.â€
Opening the business forum at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, Museveni called on the delegates to invest in Uganda, especially in processing local materials.
“OIC members have benefited from exploration of petroleum and gas and accumulated financial surpluses which can be invested in Uganda so that we expand our GDP,†he said, urging them to assist each other to achieve common prosperity.
Turning to his pet subject, the importance of value addition, the President said the GDP of OIC countries was much lower than countries like Japan and South Korea which have no natural resources.
Japan, he noted, posted a GDP of $4.2 trillion and South Korea $1.2 trillion last year. In comparison, Saudi Arabia, the biggest exporter of crude oil, which produces nine million barrels per day, recorded a GDP of only $564b, while Libya has a GDP of $74b.
“Finished products fetch more money and create more jobs than raw materials. OIC countries like Uganda, that is rich in agriculture, have made the same mistake of exporting unprocessed raw materials.â€
He told the forum that Uganda had recorded some successes in quota-free access to markets in the US and the European Union and urged the OIC to have similar arrangements.
“The OIC has a combined market of $5 trillion. If we had trade preference agreements among states, it would be a big boost.â€
Museveni commended the proposal for the construction of a railway link from Dakar to Sudan but noted that there was also need for an ‘Equator railway’, linking Mombasa to Kisangani.
He reiterated that Uganda’s problem was lack of markets for its food due to unfair competition from European and American farmers.
“This problem is caused by the EU and US, bribing their farmers to farm in form of giving them subsidies.â€
Earlier, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsannoglu, the secretary general of the OIC, had said Uganda would benefit from the Dakar-Port Sudan rail project. He urged member states to sign and ratify protocols on preferential trade within OIC member states.
Ahmed Dagher, the chairperson of the National Bank of Commerce, and Zaitun Olive Kigongo, the president of the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, flanked the President on the dais.
The forum, under the theme: ‘Discover the resources and high potential of the African market’, was also attended by foreign minister Sam Kutesa and state minister for regional cooperation Isaac Musumba. It is a prelude to the 35th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, which takes place from Wednesday to Friday at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
and James Odomel
UGANDA will not export crude oil but have it refined to maximise returns from exploration. This was announced by President Yoweri Museveni at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) first business forum in Kampala yesterday.
“I have held a meeting with companies producing oil,†he told the over 500 delegates from 57 Muslim countries.
“They wanted to build a pipeline. But I told them there will be no export of crude oil from Uganda. We have to refine it here.â€
To thunderous applause, he added: “If they want to build a pipeline, the oil can stay here. After all, it has been here for the last 20 million years.â€
Opening the business forum at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, Museveni called on the delegates to invest in Uganda, especially in processing local materials.
“OIC members have benefited from exploration of petroleum and gas and accumulated financial surpluses which can be invested in Uganda so that we expand our GDP,†he said, urging them to assist each other to achieve common prosperity.
Turning to his pet subject, the importance of value addition, the President said the GDP of OIC countries was much lower than countries like Japan and South Korea which have no natural resources.
Japan, he noted, posted a GDP of $4.2 trillion and South Korea $1.2 trillion last year. In comparison, Saudi Arabia, the biggest exporter of crude oil, which produces nine million barrels per day, recorded a GDP of only $564b, while Libya has a GDP of $74b.
“Finished products fetch more money and create more jobs than raw materials. OIC countries like Uganda, that is rich in agriculture, have made the same mistake of exporting unprocessed raw materials.â€
He told the forum that Uganda had recorded some successes in quota-free access to markets in the US and the European Union and urged the OIC to have similar arrangements.
“The OIC has a combined market of $5 trillion. If we had trade preference agreements among states, it would be a big boost.â€
Museveni commended the proposal for the construction of a railway link from Dakar to Sudan but noted that there was also need for an ‘Equator railway’, linking Mombasa to Kisangani.
He reiterated that Uganda’s problem was lack of markets for its food due to unfair competition from European and American farmers.
“This problem is caused by the EU and US, bribing their farmers to farm in form of giving them subsidies.â€
Earlier, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsannoglu, the secretary general of the OIC, had said Uganda would benefit from the Dakar-Port Sudan rail project. He urged member states to sign and ratify protocols on preferential trade within OIC member states.
Ahmed Dagher, the chairperson of the National Bank of Commerce, and Zaitun Olive Kigongo, the president of the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, flanked the President on the dais.
The forum, under the theme: ‘Discover the resources and high potential of the African market’, was also attended by foreign minister Sam Kutesa and state minister for regional cooperation Isaac Musumba. It is a prelude to the 35th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, which takes place from Wednesday to Friday at Speke Resort Munyonyo.