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Ramaphosa’s trip also comes a year after President Museveni visited South Africa to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries
South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, is set to visit Uganda.
Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Ramaphosa “will be in Uganda on a two-day working visit from 15th-16th April, 2024.”
It added: “The purpose of the visit is to strengthen the excellent bilateral relations between the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of South Africa.”
The development comes just days after Ramaphosa visited Rwanda where he participated in the 3oth commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi.
Ramaphosa’s trip also comes a year after President Museveni visited South Africa to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.
South Africa’s deep fraternal ties with Uganda date back to the struggles against colonialism and apartheid.
During President Museveni’s visit, Rampahosa said, “at great risk and sacrifice, Uganda stood firm in its support for the goals of our liberation struggle and contributed materially to help us achieve them.”
Rampahosa also said that South Africa remained deeply concerned about the instability in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He would later contribute troops to fight M23 rebels in the region.
Trade imbalance
Uganda is South Africa’s 15th-largest trading partner on the Continent and the second-largest in East Africa.
Latest data from the Bank of Uganda shows that the East African nation and South Africa’s trade volumes increased from merely US $76million in 1999 to US $334million in 2019 before slowing down to US $148.8million in 2022 owing to the effects of coronavirus pandemic.
However, most of these trade volumes are in favour of South Africa because it exports mostly high-value products such as machinery, vehicles, plastics, chemicals, electronics, parts and accessories, petroleum, live animals, books and newsprint, textiles, footwear, aircraft, and household goods.
Notably, South Africa is one of the fastest-growing sources of Foreign Direct Investment for Uganda.
South African investments in Uganda are in sectors like telecommunications (MTN), breweries, finance (Stanbic bank), poultry, energy, and real estate, amongst others.
Ugandan officials say South Africa has the potential of strengthening investment and trade links with Uganda in several areas including manufacturing, agriculture and agro-processing, touring, mining, information technology, health services, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Source: ChimpReports