Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister, Nomalungelo Gina, is leading a delegation of 65 South African business representatives to a two-day Uganda – South Africa Investment and Trade Summit which started today in Kampala, Uganda.
The summit brings together trade and investment policymakers, business communities, trade support institutions, regional and multilateral organisations from Uganda and South Africa, to explore investment and trade opportunities.
The main goal is to improve bilateral trade between the two countries and to mobilise higher levels of private sector investments into priority sectors in Uganda.
The summit, which ends tomorrow, is being held at the Speke Resort in Munyonyo, Kampala.
This summit follows a business forum held in February 2023 in Pretoria on the margins of President Museveni’s State visit to South Africa.
This summit has a particular focus on agriculture and agro-processing, Information Communication and Technology, manufacturing, energy and oil and gas.
The current status of bilateral trade is that South African exports to Uganda have decreased from R2.1 billion in 2018 to to R1.7 billion in 2022, while South Africa’s imports from Uganda have increased from R102 million to R304 million during the same timeframe.
There will also be an effort to mobilise higher levels of private investments into priority sectors in Uganda, as identified under the National Development Plan of Uganda (NDP III) and therefore they will ensure that by the end of the two days, a platform for networking and investment facilitation will be created between to fast track trade and business deals.
