By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the state visit by his Ugandan counterpart, President Yoweri Museveni, as a building block to strong political and economic relations between the two countries.
“This state visit has reinforced the firm political and economic relations between our two countries. By deepening these relations, we aim to better the lives of our people and continue the struggle to overcome poverty, unemployment and inequality,” the President said.
Ramaphosa acknowledged the challenges relating to trade and investment. However, he said steady progress has been made to resolving some of those challenges.
Ramaphosa hosted Museveni on a State Visit to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Museveni’s visit is directed at consolidating bilateral relations between the two countries. The two Heads of State held discussions encompassing political, economic, regional, continental and international issues.
The Heads of State also witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation between the Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC), Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) and Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL).
Other MoUs that were signed are on Cooperation in Tourism; MoU on Cooperation in Transport Related Matters; MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Information and Communication Technologies; MoU on Cooperation in the field of Correctional Services and Prisons, and the MoU on Cooperation in the fields of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
“We have noted significant progress in the implementation of agreements that the two countries have had in the past. As testament to our growing relations, we have just witnessed the signing of Memoranda of Understanding in diverse areas of cooperation,” the President said.
On business relations between the two countries, Ramaphosa conveyed to Museveni that South Africa remains keen on investing in Uganda, particularly in banking, retail and telecommunications.
“We hope that Ugandan business invests in South Africa for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries.
“As we speak now, the business leaders from both South Africa and Uganda are involved in a business forum, which both of us will visit later and address as well, “the President said.
The two Presidents further expressed their strong views that they should always find ways to resolve the issues that impede economic growth and development between the two countries.
“We have agreed that our two trade ministers will need to be engaged to put in place a mechanism that will ensure matters such as the protection of investments in our respective countries.
“Our discussions have been expansive; they’ve covered quite a number of areas, particularly the Africa continental Free Trade Area agreement that needs to be implemented, “Ramaphosa said.
Museveni has called for stronger trade relations among African countries and lamented the high cost of buying products and services outside the continent.
He emphasized the importance of intracontinental trade, while highlighting some of the challenges that were making this difficult to achieve.
Among some of his priorities were the procurement of coal from South Africa to be used to transform Uganda’s high-grade iron ore into steel, Museveni said.
“Our part of the world, as you can see, is very far from the ocean, 1,000 miles,” he said.
“Bringing steel products from China, India and Ukraine, in the past, is very expensive, the freight alone is bigger than even the cost of the product itself,” said Museveni. “So it is very important that we develop an inland steel industry for Uganda and those areas around there. We need coal from South Africa.