By Nelson Kiva
Ugandan fruit farmers have been tipped on a virgin market in Namibia. The Namibian High Commissioner in charge of East Africa, Tobias Tangeni Lebbius, on Friday invited the horticulture farmers and Ugandan businesspeople to tap into the readily available market.
He was speaking shortly after a meeting with the foreign affairs state minister, Henry Okello Oryem, at the ministry’s office in Kampala. Uganda has a variety of the much sought-after fruits such as oranges, pineapples, passion fruits and avocados.
“There is a ready market for these in Namibia and I encourage Ugandan businesspeople to harness this opportunity,” Lebbius said.
Lebbius, who was accompanied by Namibia’s honorary consul to Uganda, Godfrey Kirumira, said the cordial relationship between Uganda and Namibia has existed for long and that there are a number of agreements which stipulate what is expected from one another.
“We expect cooperation between us and Uganda in terms of agriculture, health, tourism, trade and industry. Uganda should also expect cooperation from Namibia in areas such as trade and investment,” he said.
Lebbius told the minister that they had resolved to appoint a prominent Ugandan businessman as their honorary consul to Uganda in order to strengthen economic diplomacy.
“Good relations with Uganda should involve investment. Therefore, we needed someone here to take care of our interests and that is how Namibia chose Kirumira because he is a businessman and a leader of businesspeople in the country. He will make links with the businesspeople in Namibia easily,” he said.
Oryem said many countries were now paying attention to Uganda because of its stability and economic growth. “We have had consistent stability, growth in our economy and security compared to our counterparts in the region. I refer to Uganda as an oasis of stability and security. That is why many countries have interest in Uganda because they want to find out how we have reached this position after so many years of turmoil,” he said.
“And for us, what we are looking for from our partners is opportunities of trade and commerce so that we can do business and create jobs for our young people. We want to ensure exchange of goods and services in order to generate revenue, be able to pay taxes and generate employment opportunities for the young people,” Oryem said.
He added that the business environment in Uganda is conducive in the sense that someone can register and start a business within a week since there is one-stop centre at the Uganda Investment Authority. “More importantly, businesspeople like peace and security and Uganda offers the best peace and security in east and central Africa. Where there is confusion, war and noise, money runs a way and in Uganda, none of these is there,” Oryem said.
Kirumira used the occasion to inform the minister that he had already started engagements to deepen cooperation between Namibia and Uganda.
