Uganda to work on increasing exports in wake of Covid-19 challenges
In the wake of COVID-19 and its devastating effects, Uganda is producing solution-based products onto market.
Unlike in the past, Ugandan products have been warmly received by local consumers because of their improved quality, says NRM National Treasurer Namayanja Rose Nsereko.
According to her, Ugandan scientists are in final stages of testing COVID-19 vaccines with 90% probable curing capacity.
“All these innovations coupled with ambitious plans to industrialise Uganda are great strides desirous of our celebrations.”
However, studies have revealed that most of the goods are in surplus on Ugandan market thus necessitating us to tap into external markets for more revenues. This is the reason the Government is increasing market for exports.
Namayanja says that the challenges to external market access have historically ranged from subsidies used by wealthy nations down to regional and local level factors.
“It is on this basis that Africa has been shifting away from traditional trading partners over the past two decades,” she said.
The study shows the Africa products in EU market reduced from about 40% in 2,000 to 25% in 2017 and the US from nearly 25% in 2,000 to 8% in 2017 and increasing its exports to China from 5% in 2000 to over 20% in 2017 and India from 3% to 10%.
Like aggregate exports, Africa’s manufacturing exports too, have shifted away from EU, declining from 50% in 1995 to 25% in 2015. The share of manufacturing exports going to the US has remained stable at around 10% in last 25 years. Yet in 2001, the US government offered Africa privileged access to US market under Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as a mechanism to stimulate export growth in the continent.
AGOA provides for duty-free treatment for about 6,500 goods from eligible sub-Saharan African countries exported to the US.
Uganda was one of the first countries to express interest in benefiting from AGOA’s provisions and some of Uganda’s eligible products include agricultural and forest products, textiles and apparel, footwear, minerals and metals. However, Uganda’s exports to the US under AGOA have been dropping steadily mainly due to some of unclear guidelines by the US customs. The paperwork is nightmare, forcing most traders to pay duties rather than doing paperwork. Some government officials have not been helpful to these people for failure to give them enough support.
