More French companies coming

Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Stephanie Rivoal, the French Ambassador to Uganda spoke to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke on the relevance of this year’s Bastille Day theme and the current Uganda-France relations

This year marks the 229th anniversary of Bastille Day and you are celebrating it under the theme: “1968: a new era for women.” Explain the motivation behind this theme.

This year’s Bastille Day reflects on a particular moment in 1968 which brought about a cultural revolution in France. University students started a movement saying they wanted a less conservative society with more freedoms.The trend was soon picked up by factory workers. At the time, workers were working in a “Fordism” manner—working along a chain, doing the same work in a systematic way which became boring. They wanted to have something different.The workers and students’ movements turned into massive demonstrations in the streets and even went into violence. Then women also picked up. At the time, women were seen as stay-home mums. They were there to have and raise children. They had very limited access to contraception and they were stuck in a certain box. Women needed the authorisation of the husband to have a bank account and to work. A woman needed to refer to a male colleague to have access to her own money. Women were even forbidden to wear trousers. So women wondered why they have to submit to men.

So this year’s Bastille Day is celebrating the start of this new era for women. We gained more rights, more independence and more emancipation. My message is this fight is not finished yet as statistics still show that women are yet to realise true equality in terms of rights and opportunity.

Certainly this theme rings true for Ugandan women too.

As an outsider, I am amazed by the place of women in Ugandan society; the Speaker of Parliament is a woman, the First Lady is a minister. There are many more powerful ministers, powerful female MPs and powerful ladies who are running companies. I know many of them personally so I feel women have a strong place in Uganda but this is mostly in the urban areas. In the rural areas, it is a slightly different story. The women are still very involved with collecting the firewood, cooking, and doing the work in the fields. When I visited Karamoja I discovered that culturally women also do the construction of houses and I was wondering what men do in that case. I find that women in rural Uganda work harder and they have probably too much on their shoulders. They are also exposed to gender based violence very much. This is unacceptable as it is everywhere else in the world. When you put down women, the entire society suffers. It is in the interest of everyone to respect women and give them some economic opportunity.

Why, do you think, women are still underrated the world over?

It takes a deep cultural change on the men’s part to understand that women will never be a threat to them. We are their partners in life and in the development of society and once men understand that sharing power would mean that everyone benefits and that domination is not necessary and does not lead to the right progression of society, it will make a big difference.

What explains the popularity of Bastille Day among modern French people?

The French people have always liked fighting and demonstrating for their rights, justice and equality. It is deeply ingrained in them. From a very symbolic standpoint, Bastille Day is a day of freedom and liberation. I think the French people understand that rights, justice, and equality require constant attention, constant energy, and constant fight and we should never sit back and think that everything is fine. We should always try to improve our society. So we celebrate Bastille Day in a very joyful way with one important concept: freedom.

Away from Bastille Day, how have you found your stay in Uganda so far?

The more I am in Uganda, the more I love it. I have been to Karamoja twice and I am going back in a few weeks after Bastille Day. I have been to the north. I visited the Gorillas which was a “wow” experience for me. I absolutely loved it. I went to see the chimps in Kibale National Park. I also went to see Queen Elizabeth National Park. I have visited all the countryside and I am amazed by Uganda’s beauty. I can relate to Sir Winston Churchill’s quote about the Pearl of Africa. The Ugandan people have been warm and welcoming to me and I enjoy a lot the rapport with the Ugandan people. So I feel adopted by Ugandans and I find it extremely nice to work here.

What still does not work for you though?

Well, it may seem anecdotal but I think the pollution in Kampala is tough. I think people should stop burning things in the open air. We all complain about the traffic jam although the quality of roads has vastly improved. I am a very impatient lady, so I don’t think there is one country that can keep up with my pace. But I wish everything would be done quicker here. Most of the time when I work with Ugandans, I put a lot of energy and then things move a little faster. So it is possible.

How would you describe the current relations between France and Uganda?

I believe we are enjoying very friendly, profitable and frank relations. I hope that the authorities and the Ugandan people are enjoying our presence and see benefits. We are very pleased with some developments; military cooperation, the development projects, and the business that we are bringing. We will continue to help with the infrastructure, water, waste management, and other priority projects. What remains very important is respect: respect of the country, respect of the elected people and respect of leaders and respect of all Ugandans in every capacity. But I hope that even with my acknowledgement of this, it does not prevent me from making statements about issues which I feel strongly about; like the women, for example.

At the start of your tour of duty in late 2016, you said that you were particularly attracted to Uganda because of its geo-politics, business prospects, and humanitarian challenges. Have these sentiments changed in any way?

Uganda is very much involved in solving the crisis in South Sudan. Of course there is Congo; Burundi and Rwanda in the southern part and the business relations with Tanzania and Kenya. So I still believe Uganda is central geographically but also in terms of conflict resolution and building the East African Community. In terms of security, I know that AMISOM is staffed vastly by the UPDF. We also know that terrorism is still a threat in Somalia and it is one of the top priorities of my government to fight terrorism in any shape or form and we will continue supporting Uganda on that front. As far as humanitarian issues are concerned, unfortunately, the crisis is still there with the South Sudanese refugees in the north but also now with the Congolese, not forgetting the historical refugees from Burundi and some from Rwanda. The situation remains fragile and we continue to see how Uganda is trying to help yet they have their own development concerns.

What do you make of the eternal tension in the Great Lakes region?

Relationships among neighbouring countries are up and down. But when you have strong economic links you will have peace. Europe was built initially on a treaty based on steel. We agreed not to compete on steel and we agreed to have an agreement between ourselves of an economic nature and that was the first pillar of Europe’s (stability). So I am inclined to think that economic links between countries would ensure that these countries don’t fight each other.

How have you been promoting French business interests in Uganda?

Total is now leading the oil project in Uganda. It is good news for France. We are hoping that would bring more companies into Uganda. On the infrastructure front, SOGEA SATOM has been very active in Uganda on roads but also on water treatment. They have a strong appetite to do more work in Uganda. For the first time, last year, there was a delegation of 40 companies to Uganda. They were from a variety of sectors and they were led by the head of the government’s syndicate business union—the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF). That was extremely positive. They will come again next year. So over the last 12 months and 12 months ahead, I think we will have over 100 new companies come into Uganda to have a look and see what they want to do here. The numbers are growing and we are very hopeful.

There is definitely a growing interest from French companies to come and invest in Uganda but what specific challenges do they face once they are here?

I shared their concerns the last time we had a meeting with the President. The number one thing that a businessman needs in a country is stability; in legislation and the tax regime. Things need to be clear from the start. If they believe that rules are going to change every other year—on tax, work permits, investment decisions, they get put off. Right now, the rules are very clear and there are many incentives. The second thing they don’t like at all is the bureaucracy—lost papers, delays.The last thing is about keeping your commitments. When you sign a contract with whomever and you agree on a schedule, this ought to be respected, meaning that overturning a signed contract or not respecting a timetable kills trust. This is not me talking, it is the investors talking and because I come from a business side, I understand them. Why should I invest two years negotiating a contract and when it is signed I don’t know whether it will be honoured?