Museveni Advocates for African Value Addition in EU Partnership Dialogue

During the inaugural Uganda-European Union Partnership Dialogue, President Yoweri Museveni strongly advocated for a restructured partnership that prioritizes Africa’s industrialization. He urged the European Union (EU) to move beyond the current model of importing unprocessed raw materials and instead invest in local processing capabilities.

President Museveni highlighted the stark economic disparity in global trade, using coffee as a prime example. He noted that while a kilogram of raw coffee beans fetches about $2, processed coffee can command up to $40. This, he argued, deprives African nations of significant income and job creation opportunities. The global coffee trade, valued at $460 billion, sees producing countries collectively earning only $25 billion, while non-producing nations like Germany profit immensely.

He stressed that Africa’s continued reliance on exporting raw materials is a betrayal of its people’s potential, hindering economic growth and job creation. Uganda’s policy to discourage raw material exports is aimed at retaining more economic value domestically. The President proposed that the EU should encourage and facilitate its companies to partner with African nations in refining and processing goods, thereby creating a more equitable and mutually beneficial trade relationship.

Furthermore, Museveni called for EU support in key development areas for Uganda, including poverty eradication through programs like the Parish Development Model, expanding irrigation to stabilize agriculture, and promoting affordable energy for industrial production. He also touched upon environmental conservation, seeking support for wetland protection and sustainable water management.

Ambassador Jan Sadek, representing the EU, acknowledged the long-standing partnership and expressed the EU’s commitment to supporting Uganda’s development, particularly in value addition for products like coffee and chocolate. The dialogue underscored shared interests in trade, climate action, and regional security, with both sides agreeing to annual partnership dialogues to strengthen their cooperation.