The governments of Uganda and the Saudi Arabia have committed to strengthening bilateral economic cooperation and unlocking new commercial opportunities between the two nations.
Led by Ali O. Alswayeh, the Saudi delegation met Yoweri Museveni and reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to expanding investment in Uganda.
The delegation identified agriculture — particularly coffee value addition — as one of the Kingdom’s priority areas of interest.
President Museveni welcomed the delegation and commended them for recognising Uganda’s untapped investment potential. He observed that although Uganda and Saudi Arabia have maintained cordial relations for many years, the two countries have not fully maximised available economic opportunities.
“We have been working together for a long time, but we have not fully engaged to maximise our investment opportunities,” the President noted.
The two parties also discussed the Value at Source Coffee Project (VASP), an agro-industrial initiative spearheaded by Nonda Coffee. The project aims to transition Uganda from exporting raw coffee beans to exporting branded, high-value finished coffee products.
At the centre of this transformation is the proposed Luwero Coffee Park, an integrated industrial complex in Luwero District with a projected annual processing capacity of 42,000 metric tons of coffee and a targeted annual revenue of USD 850 million.
The facility will manage the entire coffee value chain, including cleaning, grading, roasting, grinding, production of soluble and specialty coffee, packaging, branding, and export of finished products.
The project is expected, among other benefits, to create approximately 1,500 direct jobs and about 3,000 indirect jobs in logistics, retail, and auxiliary services. It will also integrate more than 100,000 coffee farming households into a structured supply chain.
The Saudi market is viewed as a strategic gateway to the broader Middle East — one of the fastest-growing coffee consumption regions globally. The expansion is expected to increase demand for premium Ugandan coffee, strengthen bilateral trade ties, and create sustainable downstream markets for Ugandan farmers.
The meeting underscored a shared commitment to investment-led growth, private sector development, and value addition as key drivers of economic transformation.
President Museveni has consistently emphasised value addition as a central pillar of Uganda’s development strategy, noting that exporting finished goods rather than raw materials is critical to increasing export earnings, creating jobs, and accelerating industrialisation.
The discussions concluded with a renewed commitment from both sides to deepen trade and investment cooperation, particularly in agro-processing, industrial development, and market expansion.
The engagement marked a significant step toward strengthening Uganda–Saudi Arabia economic relations and advancing mutually beneficial partnerships in strategic sectors.
