'Strong China - Uganda ties boosting business'
Jan 14, 2012
With over 50% of the entire Ugandan population below 30 years, very few were born by the time China and Uganda established diplomatic missions .
By Samuel Sanya
With over 50% of the entire Ugandan population below 30 years, very few were born by the time China and Uganda established diplomatic missions .
Now, 50 years down the road, Uganda has received a fully renovated sh19.5b hospital and sh61b presidential offices as China moves to strengthen political and economic ties between the two countries.
“Uganda and China are physically far apart, however, what has brought the two countries together is the strong relations between the Presidents of the two countries,” says Fang Min, a Chinese Business personality in Uganda.
Having started business in Uganda 23 years ago, Min is widely recognized by her peers in Uganda as the pioneer of Chinese Investment in Uganda.
Back in 1989 when she first set foot on Ugandan soil establishing the Fang Fang group, the Chinese national and now Ugandan business personality says life was much more complicated for a foreigner to do business here, especially since no one out there seemed to know where Uganda was located on the map of the globe.
“In the beginning it was hard to communicate in English, but I had to learn the language along the way. Before long, Ugandan businessmen started frequent visits to China for merchandise, that’s when things really improved,” she narrates.
Fang Min says that two visits by President Museveni to China, one in 2004 and the other in 2006, cemented the political relationship between Uganda and China, opening the door, utterly, for business between the countries to thrive.
The number of Chinese run businesses in Uganda has grown to about 30, leading to the formation of the Confederation of Chinese Uganda Organizations (CCUO) with Fang Min as the chairperson.
The 50 year strong relationship between the two countries has seen Uganda benefit from a sh81b building grant and higher levels of trade have evolved between the two countries.
Statistics indicate that by 2008, Ugandan exports to China that include cotton, coffee, leather and fish amounted to $20m (sh49b) while imports such as mechanical and electrical appliances stood at $202m (sh495b), a sh446b trade deficit for Uganda.
At the signing of $4.7m (sh12b) economic and technical agreement between the two countries earlier this week, Li Yuanchao, the minister of the organization department of the communist party of China was quoted in the media, asking the Ugandan government to consider exporting oil to china to close the trade deficit.
“Our economies complement each other. Uganda has oil and China has a huge market and foreign reserves,” he noted