By Umaru Kashaka
A new report by the Ministry of Finance has said in April 2024, Uganda exported merchandise worth $639.84m (about sh2.370 trillion), which was 0.9% higher than $634.43m (about sh2.350 trillion) of the previous month.
This increase was mainly due to a rise in export receipts from coffee, tea as well as fish and its products, the report, which was released on Monday, said.
Earnings from coffee in April 2024 went up by 30.8%, to $84.70m from $64.74m in March 2024.
Similarly, the earnings registered an increase of 41.2% on a year-to-year basis, rising from $59.99m in April 2023 to $84.70m in April 2024.
“The increase in coffee export volumes between the two years is explained by increased robusta coffee harvested from Masaka region and South Western Uganda,” the report said.
Italy maintained the highest market share of Uganda’s coffee exports, accounting for 43.9% of the total coffee exports.
It was followed by India, the USA, Germany and Belgium accounting for 8.1%, 7.0%, 6.9% and 6.8% of the total coffee exports, respectively.
On a year-on-year basis, Uganda’s merchandise exports grew by 20.7%, from $530.25m in April 2023 to $639.86m in April 2024.
This growth was mainly due to a rise in export earnings from coffee, gold, cotton, tobacco, sim sim, and beans among others.
