Uganda’s exports reached $2.3b (5.9 trillion) last year, up from $2.1b (sh5.4 trillion) in 2011, the executive director of the Uganda Export Promotion Board has said.
Appearing before Parliament‘s committee on tourism, trade and industry on Tuesday to discuss the tourism and trade ministerial policy statement for financial year 2013/14, Florence Kata said non-traditional exports of mainly maize, rice, sugar and mineral water earned the country $1.9b (sh4.8 trillion) in 2012 from $1.4b (sh3.6 trillion) in 2011.
Kata had appeared to discuss the tourism and trade ministerial policy statement for the 2013/14 financial year. She attributed the growth to a reduction in the informal cross-border trading that is responsible for a large percentage of cereal trading between Uganda and her direct neighbours.
Top Uganda export markets, she said, include France for cotton and oil seeds, Sudan, Congo, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Rwanda and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) partner states.
She said the tough economic conditions in Europe took a negative toll on Uganda exports, with exports to Netherlands, Germany, UK, Belgium, Italy and Spain all registering a decline.
COMESA accounted for 46% of Uganda’s exports, while the East African Community market accounted for 22% of the total export earnings. Nkata, however, said last year registered drops in export values for four important sub-sectors – coffee, fish, cotton and cocoa. She said the four sectors earned $590.7m in 2012, down from $678.7m in 2011.
“This drop in traditional exports can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the tough economic conditions in Europe, America and Asia which took a negative toll on the country’s exports,” she told the committee, chaired by Flavia Kabahendo, the Kyegegwa Woman MP.
Kata also revealed that Uganda’s traditional exports, including coffee and tea, continue to face tough competition from Vietnam, which has in the last two decades become a major producer of coffee, putting the country out of the pecking order.
She said they will revive the national branding initiative to boost the image of Uganda abroad since the previous attempts by the Government to advertise the country’s resourcefulness and other endowments have been feeble.
“Uganda’s international image has a critical role to play in improving her exportability and to boost exports,” she said.
By Umaru Kashaka, The New Vision
