ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan – Uganda has launched an ambitious strategic bid to penetrate the affluent and largely untapped Central Asian travel market, positioning itself as a premier African destination for high-spending tourists from the region.
As the sole African nation participating in the Turkmen Travel 2026 International Tourism Exhibition and Conference, Uganda is leveraging a first-mover advantage to establish a foothold in a territory traditionally overlooked by continental tourism boards.
The initiative is led by Amb. Twaha Matata, the charge d’affaires at the Uganda Embassy in Tehran, who is also accredited to Turkmenistan. Matata is overseeing a diplomatic push to align Uganda’s tourism offerings with the evolving travel preferences of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region.
The strategic importance of this engagement was highlighted by a visit from Seyidova Bahar Hojamuradovna, Turkmenistan’s deputy prime minister for culture and mass media. Her arrival at the Uganda Pavilion signaled high-level interest from the Turkmen government in fostering bilateral ties with Kampala.
Uganda is open to tourists from Turkmenistan and the broader region, Matata said. He noted that the country is showcasing a portfolio of high-value assets, including the snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains, the Source of the Nile, and mountain gorillas, specifically curated to appeal to the Central Asian market’s interest in unique ecological experiences.
The delegation, which includes Ministry of Tourism Undersecretary Geoffrey Sseremba and a team of private sector operators, is moving beyond general promotion to pursue formal cooperation agreements. These discussions include potential partnerships in tourism development and cultural exchange.
Engagements with Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Education are also underway. This move aims to create long-term market sustainability by fostering people-to-people connections and academic exchanges that build brand awareness for Uganda within the region’s professional and youth demographics.
The push into Central Asia is part of a broader effort to diversify tourism revenue streams and attract new investment into conservation and hospitality. Uganda is utilizing Economic and Commercial Diplomacy, known as ECD, as a central pillar to drive an ambitious goal of growing the national economy tenfold, from approximately $50 billion in 2023 to $500 billion by 2040.
This strategy, accelerated in 2025 and 2026, focuses on leveraging foreign missions to secure investment, expand export markets, and boost tourism. Uganda’s foreign missions are now tasked with prioritizing commercial diplomacy to attract foreign direct investment, diaspora remittances, and technology transfers.
Ramathan Ggoobi, the permanent secretary and secretary to the treasury, recently told diplomats that missions abroad must demonstrate export facilitation and investment mobilization to receive stronger budget support. Underperforming missions will be required to present recovery strategies to retain their funding.
Ggoobi said economic reporting must shift from activity reporting to outcome reporting, adding that public resources must buy measurable economic outcomes.
Any form of rent-seeking in investor engagement undermines national competitiveness and will be dealt with decisively, Ggoobi said. Economic diplomacy requires credibility, and credibility builds investment, which builds growth.
Ggoobi noted that Africa is integrating and competition is intensifying. He said the question is no longer whether Uganda has potential, but if Uganda is moving faster than others.
According to Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Bagiire Vincent Waiswa, Ugandan embassies have been informed that ECD funding for the 2026-27 fiscal year will be based on a strategic and evidence-based assessment. Each mission will be evaluated against weighted criteria, including previous performance, capacity to deliver, economic potential, and diaspora engagement.
Uganda’s missions must increasingly be judged by their contribution to the economic diplomacy agenda rather than by protocol activity alone, Bagiire said.
He revealed the new goals during a mid-term review retreat for 13 missions in Europe and the Americas, held in Frankfurt, Germany. The retreat focused on unlocking trade and investment potential through diplomatic interventions.
The work of our missions can no longer be seen as routine representation alone, Bagiire said. He added that diplomats are posted in some of the world’s most influential markets and financial centers, and their work matters directly to farmers, exporters, and tour operators back home.
Bagiire recalled that in the 2025-26 fiscal year, 34 Ugandan missions abroad received funding amounting to 113.25 billion shillings. Future funding will be tied to measurable results.
Uganda is at a moment where diplomacy must be felt not only in communiqués and meetings but also in factories opened, tourists received, exports increased, and jobs created, he said.
The Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Strategy for 2025-2030, launched in August 2025, repositions diplomatic missions as frontline delivery platforms for exports, investment, and tourism. The strategy aligns diplomatic engagement with Uganda Vision 2040 and the Fourth National Development Plan.
Amb. Richard Kabonero, head of the Economic and Commercial Diplomacy hub, said the mid-term review ensured that all embassies are operating in line with agreed strategic plans. Missions were tasked to identify key opportunities for attracting investment and trade.
The approach ensures that funding supports missions that drive maximum economic returns and advance the country’s interests, Kabonero said.
