French trade minister shortens Uganda visit

Diplomats tight-lipped as ‘emergency’ is cited

ANALYSIS | Ronald Musoke | The business community with French connections in Uganda spent several weeks planning for the visit of Franck Riester, France’s Minister for External Trade and Investment. Riester was scheduled for a two-day official tour of Uganda—a trip which the French Embassy in Uganda said was aimed at strengthening the economic ties between France and Uganda. But instead of the two days, he ended up staying for just a few hours.

On his itinerary that was shared by the French Embassy with The Independent prior to his arrival was a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni and other senior government officials. The meeting with the president was scheduled for Oct.25.

A more busier schedule was meant to take place on Oct.26 where he would visit the Stanbic Business Incubation Lab and Alliance Française Kampala as well as the Katosi water works in Mukono District—a water treatment plant which was built by the French firm, Sogea Satom, and handed over to the Ugandan government in July this year. He was scheduled to conclude the trip with a meeting with the French and Ugandan business community.

But when Riester arrived at Entebbe International Airport in the mid afternoon of Oct.25, his schedule was squeezed into 12 hours because he had to leave the country as soon as possible.

Riester only met President Museveni at State House, Entebbe, and the business community at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort in Kampala. Asked to explain why he had had last minute changes to his schedule, Riester did not give away anything. But Bénédicte Constans, the minister’s adviser told The Independent on the sidelines of a cocktail party that the minister could not complete his visit due to “an emergency.”

The French embassy told The Independent in a follow-up that the minister could not take part in all the planned activities because he had to attend to a government emergency.

“However, all efforts were made to re-adjust his programme making it possible for him to meet some members of the business community after his audience with the President of Uganda,” the embassy said.

Terrorism alert

Riester arrived in Uganda when Uganda’s security was on high alert following earlier warning by both the UK and French governments of an imminent terrorist attack on Uganda. That warning came in mid-October.  On Oct.23, the Uganda police confirmed that a bomb blast had gone off at an eatery in Komamboga, a suburb found on the northern outskirts of Kampala city killing a young woman.

On the day the French minister arrived, police reported another bomb incident on a passenger bus that was travelling to western Uganda. Police said the person killed on the bus was a terrorist whose device suddenly detonated.

The previous day, on Oct.24, the brand new water line that evacuates water from the newly built Katosi water project burst in the Misindye area near Seeta town, on the eastern outskirts of Kampala, destroying property worth millions of shillings. Could these events have contributed to a rethink of Riester’s stay and itinerary in Uganda? Interestingly, Riester was able to complete his East African tour by honouring his one day visit to Rwanda on Oct.27 and a two-day visit to Kenya that began on Oct.28.

Meeting Museveni, business leaders

During his meeting with President Museveni, Riester condemned the recent attacks in Uganda and reiterated France’s determination to continue making the fight against terrorism a priority alongside Uganda.

He also re-iterated France’s commitment to “intensify its economic partnership with Uganda and its willingness to put French expertise for the benefit of Uganda.” The Minister also discussed with Museveni about French investments in Uganda and the growing interest of French companies for the Ugandan market.

Amidst an unusually tight security, Riester met and interacted with representatives of the over 30 French businesses in Uganda and other key players in the Ugandan economy, under the Club d’Affaires de Kampala, an umbrella body bringing together French and Ugandan enterprises in the country.

Interestingly, Riester described Uganda as a stable country that boasts both wonderful assets for the future and natural resources, entrepreneurs and innovative young people.

“I am very happy to be here in Uganda; I decided to come to Uganda because it is a very important country and I will come back as soon as possible to meet different companies doing business here because there are so many potential partnerships that are possible.  Even though my trip is not as long as I had wished, I will come back as soon as possible.”

Here, he acknowledged the role French businesses play in building close relations with Uganda’s public and private sector payers through partnerships, training, technical know-how for a sustainable growth, and the need to strengthen the economic ties between the two countries which he said are still below their true potential.

More than 30 French companies have invested over €2 billion in key sectors of Uganda’s economy, creating jobs and supporting the country’s socio-economic transformation. In addition, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has extended nearly €1 billion in development cooperation since 1998 to support government programmes and private sector development.

French companies continue to show interest in investing in the health, agriculture, ICT, infrastructures sectors of the Ugandan economy while trade between the two countries has been growing steadily over the years. In 2020, French exports to Uganda totaled € 125.9 million while Uganda exported goods worth €15.2 million to France in the same period.

TheAgence Française de Développement (AFD) which has been financing development projects in Uganda since 1998 intends to continue its support to Uganda by building sustainable infrastructures through soft funding and grants.

AFD is active in the water and sanitation sector (Water and sanitation for Kampala, Masaka, Mbarara, Isingiro, Fort Portal, Hoïma and Lira), in electricity sector (transport lines, interconnection, hydropower plants), in urban development and mobility (Kampala-Jinja Expressway, Kampala city lighting and infrastructures improvement, infrastructures in secondary cities and housing.

The French embassy through the Network for Innovation and Sustainability in Agriculture and Tourism has also been working with the Stanbic Business Incubation Lab to implement to projects aimed at creating jobs, primarily for young people and women, in the agro-ecology and eco-tourism sectors.

The French minister said France is keen to develop a strong long-term partnership with Uganda based on an equal footing and is ready to offer facilities and financing to support this partnership. He said the time is now for French companies to invest in Uganda. He also invited Ugandan companies to choose France for their investments.

“The French and Ugandan governments are both deeply committed to increasing our bilateral economic cooperation but also cooperation in terms of health, security and the environment. In order to reach these goals, I believe building new bridges and strengthening ones between our companies is essential.”

In a nutshell, Riester said, France wants to re-invent its relationship with Africa. The New Africa-France Summit in Montpellier two weeks ago was a highlight of this ambition and agenda, he said.

Up to 22 Ugandan companies were invited to attend the summit and 13 Ugandan business leaders participated in two economic events (Ambition Africa) between Oct.5-7. It was an opportunity to meet potential African, European of French business partners and financers.

Riester said France supports initiatives that could help entrepreneurism in Africa. For both African and French entrepreneurs, there is help in form of financing, professional training and skilling. He said the youth, who he called the wealth of Africa—need to have skills and they need to be helped to do business.

“As you know, France’s bilateral economic relationship with Uganda, however, dynamic is still below its true potential,” he said.

Approximately 30 French companies are present in Uganda. Riester said mutually beneficial business ventures between private actors on the African continent including Uganda and France can only contribute to the growth of our economies and prosperity of our respective populations.

“To succeed, we need to keep the upward trend growing,” he said, “French industries are ready to accompany Uganda’s economic diversification and modernisation policy.”

He said French companies excel in many sectors that are key for Uganda’s development, including health, sustainable infrastructure, ICTs, sustainable cities, agri-food businesses, energy and renewable energies.

He said Ugandan companies can also invest in France because France ranks first in Europe for foreign direct investment ahead of the UK and Germany.

“Our objective is to continue encouraging investors to come to France. Given our strong links with West Africa, you can also use France as a platform to develop your own businesses on the other side of the continent,” he said.

Patrick Bitature, the CEO of Simba Group of companies thanked the French Ambassador to Uganda for his pro-business stance.

“We have so many Ugandans who are young, vibrant and with a lot of energy but they are lacking direction. They need re-skilling and retooling. If we can get these people doing these things on the ground, it would be so much better than trying to go to France.”