ENPING, China:

The Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) trade and export delegation visiting China over the weekend held an inspection tour of one of China’s largest integrated textile plants and asked the owners to channel part of their operation in Uganda under incentives that will allow them to supply the Africa market. The Kamhing Textile Company owned by Mr. Tai Chin Wen with his family and listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange has annual revenues of USD600m and processes 100million kilograms of cotton from lint, yarn, and fabric including knitting, printing, dying, and sells to western retail outlets such as Macy’s, Target, Walmart in the US and high fashion sports brands such as Nike and Adidas.

“We do not know much about Uganda and Africa and how to invest there, especially in a delicate product like cotton fabrics. We are not sure about water because we use a lot of steam, the levels of electricity stability, and the overall safety and security of the continent. If you can guarantee these things, we would consider a visit to explore the possibility of a partnership with the Government to source cotton and produce fabrics for the market there” said Mr. Tai Chin. Kamhing Textile Factory has product outlets on over 300 acres handling an integrated textile production, supplying Africa, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, and many parts of Asia. “We can invest in phases if there are certain guarantees,” said Mr. Dai, General Manager of the company. The company which employs 5000 people has production facilities in Enping and Guangzhou regions in the southwest of China, with headquarters in Hong Kong.

Odrek Rwabwogo who led the nine-person delegation including Ambassador Kiema Kilonzo, Brenda Opus, Allan Mugisha, Joshua Akandwanaho, Enock Isingoma, and others, assured the company saying that “Uganda is at a critical stage of production increases of all agricultural commodities, a young and highly educated labor force and electricity provision at only USD5cents for manufactures. Next year, when we begin production of oil, we anticipate the beginning of a thriving petrol chemical industry that will provide us with dyes for printing for the cotton industry. If you invest today, you are an early bird and President Museveni will offer you all fiscal and market protection to give the country scale in this sector”.

Uganda’s per capita consumption of fabric per annum is 6 meters and total consumption is about 276million square meters, spending substantial amounts of foreign exchange importing used clothing. Both Fine Spinners and Nytil cotton factories in Kampala do not make a significant difference in domestic cloth consumption for imports, giving space for more large-scale investments in the sector to drive productivity at farm and firm levels.

PACEID aims to attract investment in the value chains of the products the country has set its sights on raising USD 6Bn in external earnings in the next five years.

The Uganda-Algeria Trade and Investment Forum & Exhibition took place last week from 30^th September to 2^nd October at Hotel Africana in Kampala as a follow up to the directive made by Presidents; Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the Republic of Uganda and Abdelmadjid Tebboune of the People’s Republic of Algeria in March 2023 where the latter led a delegation of 150 business people and entrepreneurs from Uganda for a business forum in Algiers.  

Hon. Francis Mwebesa, Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives and Hon Tayeb Zitouni Minister of Trade and Export Promotion for Algeria held Bilateral discussions and officially opened the first ever Uganda-Algeria business forum witnessing the signing of an MoU between the two chambers of commerce and later the establishment of the Uganda-Algeria Business Council that will spearhead and oversee trade between the two countries.

The forum was attended by Hon Francis Mwebesa, Hon Frank Tumwebaze, Minister of Agriculture, Geraldine Ssali, Permanent Secretary-Ministry of Trade, Odrek Rwabwogo, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID), Hon. John Mulimba, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Harriet Ntabazi, Minister of State for Trade, MS. Olive Kigongo-President of Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry among other prominent leaders.

Hon Teyeb Zitouni leader of the Algerian delegation was accompanied by Mr. Kamel Moula-President of the Algerian Economic Renewal Council Employers Foundation, Mr. Zaoui Hoicine, Director General Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ms. Ahlem Rahmani, Deputy Director in the Algerian Ministry of Trade and Export Promotion among others.

The forum was also attended by Uganda’s Ambassador to Algeria H.E Alintuma Nsambu, Algeria’s Ambassador to Uganda H.E. Oualid Cherif, senior Government officials and captains of industries and private sector from both countries.

The ministers restated the commitment of their respective countries in resolving challenges to businesses in Uganda and Algeria, among these are;

1. Strengthening corporate relations between private sector and governments
2. Strengthening trade business linkages for favorable balance of trade between Uganda and Algeria
3. Removal of all trade barriers and enhancement of free movement of goods, services, capital and labour.
4. Operationalizing of the Algerian Ugandan joint business council established to handle challenges of existing business communities.
5. Revenue authorities of both countries to hold regular meeting with the private sector to address challenges.
6. Accelerating processes of mutual recognition of standards and compliances for goods and services.( A draft agreement was drafted and was submitted by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards to  IANOR in this regard).

The following are the commitments welcomed by the forum;

1. Bilateral cooperation in the field of education as one of the strategies of consolidating Uganda’s human resource development efforts with an addition of 500 scholarships.
2. Further discussions to implement visa free entry between Uganda and Algeria in partial realization of the African continental free trade area (AFCTA)
3. Direct air linkage between Uganda and Algeria to facilitate trade through conclusion of a Bilateral Air services agreement (BASA). The ministers agreed that the two countries can start by using the existing infrastructure of Ethiopian airlines which has direct flights from Addis Ababa to both Entebbe and Algeria.
4. Rectification of the concluded agreements and memorandum of understanding in the fields of trade, energy, agriculture, animal health tourism, higher education and scientific research
5. Uganda asked for duty free access for its powdered milk worth USD 700m, coffee, beef, fruits, and tea in line with quality and standard requirements of the Algerian market.
6. Adhering to the guided trade initiative (GTI) of the African continental free trade area (AFCTA), a frame work for adopting reciprocal tariff offers on the agreed upon products originating and traded between Uganda and Algeria.

Through the PACEID frame work, during the Business to Business (B2B) sessions, business deals and partnerships were welcomed;

1. A poultry factory in Uganda that also produces and packaging materials for poultry products, all eggs produced from this factory to be exported to Algeria in a period of 1 month.
2. An irrigation and water reservoirs demonstration facility in western and northern Uganda effective immediately.
3. Collaborations in production and exportation of Shea butter from Uganda to Algeria.
4. Power distribution and street lighting in northern Uganda

In addition, investment projects in Uganda agreed for further discussions through the joint business council were proposed in the production of pipes, cement, poultry, steel and iron, oil and gas, cosmetics, assembling of cranes and machinery, manufacture of irrigation systems, shoe manufacturing and manufacture of equipment for sewage.

Furthermore the two delegations applauded the commitment by 14 Ugandan companies to export to Algeria as well to 17 Algerian companies who agreed to export products to Uganda, the Algerian delegation appreciated the government of Uganda on its progress and its promotion of the and exploitation of the oil and gas industry during a tour of the Kabalega Industrial Park located in Albertine Graben in western Uganda.

The Algerian delegation commended the government of Uganda for convening the Uganda-Algeria trade and investment forum and exhibition, and expressed gratitude for the warm reception and hospitality accorded to them, the delegation also appreciated Uganda’s cultural diversity displayed during the welcome working dinner hosted by the Presidential Advisory Committee on exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) on 30^th September 2023 at the Sheraton Hotel, Kampala.

The sponsors of the forum were; PACEID, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, National Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Housing Finance Bank, African Export Import Bank, Pearl Dairy, Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Uganda Marketers Society and other stake holders were applauded by the 2 delegations for their role in the making of the forum possible and further noted that this kind of partnership between the government and the private sector is critical in growing business between the two countries.

On the sidelines of the Uganda-Algeria Trade, Investment Forum & Exhibition that was held at Hotel Africana over the weekend, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) hosted the Algerian delegation to a dinner, with the aim of fostering collaboration and expanding trade opportunities between business groups from both countries.

The dinner, at Sheraton Hotel Kampala on Saturday evening at the end of Day One of the three-day forum, kick-started an evening where the Algerian delegation led by their Minister of Trade and Export Promotion, Tayeb Zitouni, were treated to a bit more of Ugandan culture and hospitality.

At the dinner, guests were presented with an opportunity to have further business discussions with Ugandan exporters who are interested in their sectors.

There were brief speeches from PACEID Chairman Odrek Rwabwogo, Olive Kigongo-President National Chamber of Commerce, Geraldine Ssali-Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Alintuma Nsambu-Uganda’s Ambassador to Algeria, Hon. Harriet Ntabazi-Minister of State for Trade and Prof. Rev. Florence Muranga from the Ugandan side. H.E. Oualid Cherif- Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Algeria to Uganda and Zakaria Bourennane spoke on behalf of the foreign delegation sharing insights and potential collaboration prospects.

Uganda’s Trade Representative for the Balkan region, Bratislav Stoiljkovic was present and thanked PACEID Chairman Rwabwogo for the initiatives the committee is putting in place to grow exports and achieve the USD6B target by 2028.

At the end of the night, Algerians were not only treated to a sumptuous meal but also presented with gifts from PACEID about Uganda.

The head of the Algerian delegation was gifted a hand-woven banana fibre design of an Ankole long-horned cow from Western Uganda while others got hand woven banana fibre gift boxes that can be used as a centerpiece for fruits or ladies jewelry.

In each package, there was a hand woven throw-on and samples of Ugandan products for export like coffee from Great Lakes Coffee, Tooke flour from Banana Industrial and Research Development Centre (BIRDC), powdered milk and dried pineapple from Zahra Food Industries Ltd, all packaged in 100 percent cotton bags branded with a strip of bark cloth. On the gift cards, there were some of Uganda’s animals including Buffalos, Crested Crane, tree climbing lions, Gorillas and Elephants among others.