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At the 4th edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, President Yoweri Museveni urged global investors to seize the abundant opportunities in Uganda and Africa, highlighting the continent’s economic potential.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has urged global investors to seize the abundant opportunities in Uganda and Africa, highlighting the continent’s vast potential for economic transformation.

He made this appeal while addressing the 4th edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). Themed ‘The Nexus of Next: Supercharging Sustainable Progress,’ the summit attracted African and international leaders to discuss strategies for fostering sustainability and inclusive progress.

Delivering his address on the topic ‘Transforming Uganda in a rising East Africa’, President Museveni noted that Uganda’s economy is growing rapidly but requires value addition to its products to further accelerate development.

“We, therefore, invite investors from the world to help us do the rapid transformation of our economy and society as they also benefit because the IRR in Uganda is 14.1%. Uganda is now classified as a lower middle-income country. It will however rapidly grow into a high middle-class country and eventually into a first-world country.”

“To achieve these goals, we need to add value to the large spectrum of our agricultural raw materials like coffee, bananas, fruits, cotton, oil seeds, cassava, maize, tea, dairy, beef, poultry products, fish, forest products, sugar as well as mineral products,” he asserted.

President Museveni assured investors of a large and growing market in Uganda and the region that would absorb their products and sustain their investments.

“I salute our African brothers and sisters in East Africa and the whole continent. With a clear vision, we agreed that when you produce a good or a service, you need to sell. The more you sell, the better for our prosperity. The internal market of Uganda of 46 million people is not enough to support large-scale sustained production of goods and services, especially when their purchasing power is still low.”

“Already Uganda has a surplus of many products: maize, milk, beef, bananas, steel products, cement, tubes and tyres, textiles, cassava products, among others. How would the Uganda economy grow if we did not have the East African market,” he wondered.

He highlighted the continental potential, noting, “The population of Africa will be 2.5 billion people in the next 25 years. The population of Uganda will be 106 million people by that time.”

President Museveni also cautioned against the mistakes of greed and ignorance, urging a focus on win-win solutions to achieve sustainable global prosperity.

Earlier in his address, he detailed Uganda’s journey from economic recovery to diversification and value addition. By promoting new products such as fruits, dairy, and leather, alongside innovations in vaccines and automobiles, Uganda has steadily grown its economy from $4b (sh14.7 trillion) in 1986 to $168.5b (sh622.3 trillion) by the PPP method.

Other notable speakers included Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, who discussed sustainable energy strategies for Africa.

Also present at the summit were Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Ramadhan Ggoobi, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vincent Bagiire.

Others present included Uganda’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Zaake W. Kibedi, and Amb Aisa Ismail, the Deputy Head of Mission, Uganda Embassy, Abu Dhabi, as well as officials from the embassy.