The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Secretary to the Treasury, Ggoobi meets multinational coffee merchant Tamari in 2-day visit to Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland | THE INDEPENDENT | Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Ramathan Ggoobi has expressed gratitude to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for its continuous support to Uganda. He highlighted the important role of trade and development for Uganda and other developing countries.
Ggoobi made the remarks February 20th, 2025, at a meeting with the Deputy Director-General (DDG) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen at the WTO Headquarters.
He briefed the DDG on Uganda’s 10-fold growth strategy anchored on the pillars of Agro-processing, Tourism, Mineral Resource development and Science and technology transfer and creative economies.
The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance was on a 2-day working visit to Geneva, where he was accompanied by Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Amb. Arthur Kafeero, Joseph Enyimu, Commissioner Economic Development, Policy and Research, and Moses Kabanda, Commissioner Public administration in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Deputy Director-General Zhang applauded Uganda on her path to achieving her development goals through digital transformation and for the ambitious target of the 10-fold growth strategy by 2040 the current DGP.
He emphasized the importance of e-commerce and digital transformation as key elements to achieving such exponential ambition.
They agreed that Uganda and WTO explore opportunities to support Uganda develop an IT ecosystem for the country share fully in the benefits that digital trade brings.
Zhang said that in view of the demographics of Uganda with a high percentage of youth, there is great potential in encouraging and developing a creative economy, citing examples from his own country of origin, China that to date relies heavily on creativity and digitalization, not only in basic Information Technologies, but embedding AI into critical sectors like Agriculture.
Zhang reiterated the readiness of WTO to work with Uganda.
In the meeting, Ggoobi stressed that his engagement with the WTO was to see how the organization can be a strategic partners in realizing the goal.
He welcomed the support Uganda was receiving under the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), in building institutional capacity for trade; diagnostics; and productive capacity development including in the tourism sector,
As a land linked country, he said Uganda has a favorable trade balance in the region and sees great potential in Intra-African trade offering greater scope to support economic diversification and export stabilization, but non-tariff barriers remained an obstacle. Uganda was interested in deeper economic integration and access to larger markets for its products and was open to working with WTO to leverage trade for growth, job creation and sustainable development.
Ggoobi and the DDG held a vibrant discussion on the green transition as well as the importance of Digital Trade for Uganda, acknowledging the need to address the digital infrastructure gap, including limited internet access and high costs, especially in rural areas.
Ggoobi meets multinational coffee merchant
PSST Ggoobi has also met with Nicolas Tamari, CEO of Sucafina, a multinational coffee merchant and one of the world’s leading coffee trading and roasting companies at the company headquarters in Geneva.
Sucafina trades 4% of the world’s coffee exports and is located in 57 locations in 43 countries, including Uganda.
Tamari briefed Ggoobi about Sucafina’s historic relationship with Uganda informing him that the company had operated in East Africa, since the 1950’s and has invested in the region more than any other part of Africa.
He added that when the world was moving to South East Asia to trade in coffee, in the 1990s following the liberalization of the coffee sector, Sucafina, given its historic attachment, opted to retain its business holdings in Uganda. He credited the Company’s decision to remain active in Uganda to President Yoweri Museveni’s decision to liberalize the economy. To date, Sucafina has upwards of $20m of fixed assets in Uganda including coffee washing stations in Kasese.
Speaking with pride, Tamari declared, “1 in 6 cups of coffee drank in Europe today has its roots in Uganda, because of Sucafina’s investment,” he said, adding that the Sucafina Coffee Roastery in Belgium roasts 10% of all coffee purchased in Uganda. He said that UGACOF its subsidiary had been Uganda’s top coffee exporter since its inception, employing thousands and opening up markets across the globe, in addition to being good and timely paymasters to the farmers.
PSST Ggoobi expressed gratitude that Sacafina had considered Uganda as one of those places they cherished doing business in. He shared Uganda’s growth strategy through the four pillars of Agro-processing, Tourism, Mineral Development and Science and Technology transfer, pointing out that companies like Sucafina, with their investments in Uganda, were doing a great job in the transformation of Uganda’s economy. He encouraged stronger collaboration with Government in order to achieve the 10-fold level of growth by 2040.
Tamari congratulated the Government of Uganda on the strategy, assuring Ggoobi of Sucafina’s commitment not just to the development of the communities in which it operates, but also to its own vision, which is “to be the leading sustainable farm to roaster Coffee Company in the World”.
Ggoobi said that President Museveni is a champion of the private sector and that as a private sector-led economy, Uganda takes Sucafina’s investments very seriously. “The liberalization market signals must answer all economic questions,” he said. He revealed that the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) construction would be kicking off in March 2025 promising that the SGR would reduce the cost and increase efficiency of transportation, which would be a major game-changer for export companies like Sucafina.
Tamari observed that demand for coffee remains high for the near future, and Uganda should increase production, aiming for the 20m bag mark, because it has the capacity to meet such demand.
The guests were treated to both an in-house coffee cupping and coffee tasting exercise in order to appreciate what distinguishes the taste of Uganda’s coffees from others on the market and had an in-depth discussion on future plans for the coffee industry in Uganda.
Tamari met the delegation from Uganda together with Sucafina Chief Financial Officer Mr. Phillipe Penet while Mr. Ggoobi’s delegation included Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Amb. Arthur Kafeero, Commissioner Economic Development, Policy and Research, Mr. Joseph Enyimu and Mr. Moses Kabanda, Commissioner Public Administration in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Head of Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Margaret Kafeero and Mr. Milwen Ewaru Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Officer at the Uganda Mission in Geneva.
