PACEID woos Chinese agro-industrial companies to source from Uganda

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GUANGZHOU – A nine-person Ugandan trade and exports delegation, led by Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo, Chairman of the Exports and Industry Advisory Committee (PACEID), recently met with several Chinese agro-industrial companies in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, to promote Ugandan products and secure market entry into China.

The meeting, co-hosted by the Institute of African Studies and CN Light Technologies, brought together over 80 product buyers, investors, and industry experts from various sectors, including agriculture, mining, electronics, logistics, and education services. Mr. Rwabwogo praised China’s leadership for its economic growth and resilience, citing the city of Shenzhen as a model for economic resurgence. “The city of Shenzhen, which began experimentation with the Free zones export idea in the 1990s, has led China’s economic resurgence and growth in the last 40 years,” he said.

Professor Liu Jisen, head of the Institute of African Studies, emphasized the need for Ugandan producers to ensure sustainability of supplies to China, highlighting the importance of consistency and planning. “We are working with the importation of beef from Zambia. Why would we not try Ugandan beef? It is because we are not sure that even when you fulfill standards required in China, you will sustain the import demand here. China demands more food products, and your consistency will be an issue if you do not plan ahead,” he said. He also requested Uganda to sign more protocols on standards and compliance measures on food safety.

Mr. Rwabwogo assured the buyers of Uganda’s capacity to use export credit funding for firms that receive orders, highlighting improvements in phytosanitary standards, laws, and regulations. “We are improving the phytosanitary standards for our food products, modernizing our laws and regulations, and their enforcement, and also establishing trade representation in key markets. These are some of the new measures President Yoweri Museveni is applying to remove doubts from buyers of our food,” he said. He added, “We are creating critical awareness about Uganda as a good source of products because of the reforms we are making in infrastructure such as energy, roads, and water to reduce production costs for firms and improve the business environment.”

The Uganda Consul General to Guangzhou, Dr. Judith Nsababeera, announced plans to establish an information center and trade hub for Uganda products. “We are building our own headquarters here for the embassy, and we will work with PACEID to have an information center and trade hub for Uganda products,” she said.

The delegation also met with provincial government officials, visited CN Light Company, and signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue off-takers of Ugandan products and investors in mining and agriculture. CN Light Company, which began in 1992, is listed on the stock exchange in Shanghai and has subsidiaries in production of textiles and fabrics, electronics, data security, and computing. The company is investing more than USD 30 million in the next five years in an assembly and production plant for tablet computers, solar lights, and other household appliances in Uganda.

The PACEID team, which includes Ambassador Kiema Kilonzo, a consultant on regional trade, and officials from NITA, will continue to explore opportunities in the Foshan region, inspecting computer production plants, textile companies, and meeting retailers of agricultural products. Uganda has lately experienced a surge in production of commodities such as coffee, dairy, and beverages, and the government is investing approximately USD 400 million annually in the Parish Development Model (PDM) to spur more household production. PACEID aims to connect markets to Ugandan products and encourage young people to use new technological channels to trade in external markets.

This trip marks a significant step towards increasing Uganda’s market entry and trade relations with China, which exports more than USD 1.3 billion annually to Uganda and has made a case for Uganda’s avocados, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, sesame, coffee, dried chili peppers, macadamia, castor oil, and seeds, sorghum, cocoa, and many more products. However, Uganda sold less than USD 100 million to China last year, highlighting the need for increased market entry and trade relations.