Why the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the next frontier for Ugandan Exporters
Uganda, a naturally resource endowed country, prides its self with a lot of natural resources in form of precious minerals, oil and gas, fertile soils and a lot of organic produce and lately a large population of college and university graduates, more still a picturesque country that takes one away to fantasy, her tourism potential is only on the rise as it soon becomes the centre of the East African Community.
As the population of Uganda grew faster than its capacity to absorb the increasing youth into the job market some opted to try working in the diaspora, from where they remit some of their incomes to develop the homeland, this is now one of the fast growing export revenue sources for Uganda. The question is, is it possible to harness or leverage on this diaspora income to transform our resource rich nation into a highly wealthy nation, I believe so.
Uganda is learning to leverage on its presence in the diaspora to fast track development as well as improve the balance of trade! Looking at the Uganda UK, USA and recently UAE conventions as possible entry points, if well planned and targeted by a concrete collaborate effort between the public and private sectors would a long way in supporting market entry for several sectors where Uganda has a comparative advantage over many others.
Turning specifically to the UAE, UAE and Uganda have a continuous and growing trade relationship, it being one of the bigger importers of Ugandan products and services, the Emirates are evidently a ley trade partner to Uganda. According to the OEC an MIT learning group portal, only South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Qatar beat UAE in importing from Uganda.
28.6% of remittances from Ugandan diaspora is from Middle East, what does this tell us? According to a Bank of Uganda, Middle East is only second to some African countries in remittances by Ugandans in the diaspora.
Uganda mainly exports precious minerals and agricultural products to the UAE, imagine a concerted effort to improve exports, adding key service exports such as skilled HR, IT, ITES, Tourism among others! And, in addition, supporting the externalized labour invest back home the dream of improving the balance trade would surely become a reality.
UAE being a global melting pot for the fusion of all cultures, ethnicities and over 200 nationalities is fast becoming the leading business and tourism district of the world, why not actively engage the UAE so as to participate in this ever growing trade? The key exports from Uganda to UAE being Gold, Petroleum and Agricultural Products, investments should be attracted to these areas as well as Hospitality, ICT and Tourism.
The demand for goods and services is only set to grow exponentially in the next few years, Uganda must focus on growth of quality in export and deliver world class services. Diplomatic relations have been strengthened, with an embassy in Abu-Dhabi and a Consulate being established in Dubai, a network of Ugandans in UAE has been build, access to UAE has also improved with a national carrier frequently connecting the two countries.
Richard Okuti
An export development consultant, social entrepreneur and philanthropist at knowledge sharing & skills development
CBI Sustainable Tourism, Coordinator
Founder; Asili FORTUNE