Uganda, French community celebrate Bastille day in 'scientific' style

The Minister for General Duties, Office of the Prime Minister, Mary Karooro Okurut, has called on French companies to invest in Uganda.

Karooro made the call on Tuesday at the French Ambassador's residence in Kampala during an event of the French National Day, also known as Bastille Day.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in line with the social distancing guidelines, the Ambassador of France, His Excellence Jules Armand Aniambossou, organized a small ‘scientific' reception where a few people were invited.

It was at this event that Karooro encouraged French business leaders and companies to continue taking advantage of the existing investment opportunities available in Uganda.

"The investment opportunities exist in commercial farming and value addition, as well as the manufacturing of inputs (fertilizers and pesticides among others), supply of agricultural machinery and the establishment of cold storage facilities as well as the production of packing materials," Karooro said.

She highlighted that potential investors considering investing in Uganda will find a well regulated highly liberalized economy in which all sectors are open for investment and there is a free movement of capital to and from the country.

She also encouraged French Tourists to visit Uganda which is a beautiful and endowed country with well-packaged attractions.

France is one of the largest tourism markets in the world, with an estimated 1.6 million French people visiting African countries annually.

However, only 15,000 of these come to Uganda, compared to the 60,000 arrivals from the United Kingdom.

This year, France chose this occasion to pay tribute and honor health workers worldwide for their contribution to the fight against Covid-19.

The French Ambassador congratulated Uganda for its commendable response to the pandemic and reiterated France's solidarity.

"France has chosen this moment to pay tribute and honour the healthcare workers who are at the forefront in the fight against the COVID19 pandemic. We wish to salute their precious contribution," Aniambossou said.

Because of COVID-19, the world is faced with a very unprecedented situation that calls for everyone to come together.

"The scale of the pandemic calls for joint efforts in order to register sustainable gains. International cooperation is key. We shall overcome by the action of each and every one of us and our ability to cooperate together and the solidarity that we will show towards each other. This is the time to embrace a new multilateralism," Aniambossou said.

He commended Uganda for being exemplary in its response to the threat posed by the pandemic.

"In response to a request from Uganda, the French government, through the French Development Agency (AFD), is in the process of releasing a 60 million USD direct budget support," Aniambossou said.

France has been supporting the Ugandan army in attaining basic training, learning the French language as well as mountaineering warfare tactics in strengthening the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) skills capacity, fighting terrorism, and many more.

France is training Ugandan soldiers who are posted to Somalia.

"We are working on developing new areas of defence and security cooperation, beyond the ongoing projects that include peace support training and French language lessons among other bilateral cooperation," he said.

He revealed that the pandemic is a strong warning to a world consumed by the desire for profit, a planet whose obsession for development has no regard for principle.

"Respecting the environment and biodiversity can no longer be an option, we have the obligation to think of an ecological reconstruction that reconciles production and climate," he said.

About Bastille day

Also known as la fête nationale française, the day can be traced back to 1789 when an angry mob successfully captured a Parisian fort-turned-prison and released all of the inmates.

The French revolution started with the storming of the Bastille prison. A few weeks later, France adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen as its constitution.

France was inspired by the American Declaration of Independence that contained the iconic statement: "Men are born free and remain free and equal in rights."

The declaration ushered in a change of leadership and independence for France, with the creation of a modern French Republic.