As Uganda continues to champion deeper regional and continental integration, a key message emerged during the recent International Buyers’ Week organized by PACIED. His Excellency Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area, emphasized that AfCFTA is opening new possibilities for nations such as Uganda. According to Mene, the real obstacles facing African exporters today are not geographical but lie in improving efficiency, quality standards, and linkages to wider markets.
Mene’s remarks followed the arrival of Uganda’s first shipment of coffee, dairy, and pharmaceutical products in Nigeria under AfCFTA preferential access.
He noted that regional market expansion beyond COMESA and the East African Community is no longer theoretical but already taking shape. With its strong agricultural sector, growing manufacturing base, and strategic geographic position, Uganda is increasingly well-positioned to anchor East Africa’s export growth.
Mene described AfCFTA as Africa’s most ambitious economic integration and transformation initiative since the end of colonial rule.
He stressed that its significance goes far beyond reducing tariffs—it is about creating a unified continental market, boosting manufacturing capacity especially in value-added sectors, and strengthening Africa’s standing in global trade.
To sustain Uganda’s export momentum, Mene urged the government to intensify investment in value addition, agricultural production, and agro-industrial development. He also called for improvements in logistics and market connectivity, emphasizing Uganda’s ability to attract industrial financing from partners like the African Development Bank.
He further highlighted the importance of efficient transport networks, warehousing, and cold chain systems in ensuring competitiveness. New initiatives, such as the air cargo corridor linking Entebbe and Abuja, demonstrate major progress in bridging East and West Africa.
“Platforms like Buyers Week connect producers, distributors, investors, and policymakers,” Mene explained. By using AfCFTA instruments such as the Adjustment Fund—established with the African Development Bank—and the AfCFTA private sector strategy that identifies priority sectors, he believes Uganda is well-equipped to reduce investment risks, fund trade, and strengthen cross-regional commerce.
At the same event, the Minister of State for Trade, Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, stated that Uganda is entering a new phase of rapid export growth driven by AfCFTA, deeper regional integration, and the country’s 10-Fold Growth Strategy.
According to Gen. Mbadi, AfCFTA offers Uganda one of its largest opportunities for economic transformation. With access to a continental market of 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP of USD 3.4 trillion, Uganda now enjoys unprecedented potential for expanding exports.
Uganda is particularly poised to gain in West Africa, where AfCFTA has opened 14 new markets including Nigeria—the continent’s largest economy. Additional prospects are emerging in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia for Ugandan coffee, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and fish.
“The AfCFTA grants Uganda duty-free, quota-free access across the continent, enabling us to competitively export products such as coffee, tea, fish, dairy, sugar, bananas, cocoa, fruits, and spices,” he noted.
Gen. Mbadi also highlighted new opportunities across key ATMS sectors—Agriculture, Tourism, Minerals, and Science & Innovation. From agro-processing and tourism services to mineral beneficiation and digital innovation, AfCFTA is paving the way for Uganda to tap into new regional value chains.
He pointed to ongoing export support reforms, including the Export Support Facility, Uganda’s entry into Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), and the planned Export Credit Insurance Guarantee Scheme under UDB, aimed at reducing risks around export financing.
The Minister reiterated the importance of trade facilitation measures such as digitizing customs processes, strengthening border infrastructure, and implementing the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to support cross-border transactions using local currencies.
