Uganda pushes for stronger OACPS collaboration to unlock trade and investment
The meeting comes just days after President Yoweri Museveni reaffirmed Uganda's commitment to the organisation and offered the country as a potential host for the OACPS headquarters when it relocates from Brussels, Belgium.
Uganda is intensifying efforts to strengthen trade and investment links with fellow African, Caribbean and Pacific nations as part of its strategy to build a US$500 billion economy by 2040, Finance Minister Henry Musasizi has said.
Speaking after meeting the Secretary General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Moussa Saleh Batraki, at the Ministry of Finance in Kampala on Thursday, Musasizi said Uganda sees the 79-member bloc as a strategic platform for expanding regional trade, attracting investment and accelerating industrialisation.
The Minister commended the OACPS leadership for its renewed commitment to strengthening the organisation and championing the independence and economic interests of its member states.
“We need support and collaboration to drive this agenda through the ATMS and the enablers, which include peace and security, infrastructure development, affordable electricity to support industrialisation and human capital development,” Musasizi said.
Uganda’s economic transformation strategy prioritises Agro-industrialisation, Tourism development, Mineral-based industrialisation including oil and gas, and Science, Technology and Innovation (ATMS) as the key drivers of long-term growth.
The government believes deeper economic cooperation within the OACPS can help unlock new export markets, attract strategic investments and strengthen value addition across these priority sectors.
The meeting comes just days after President Yoweri Museveni reaffirmed Uganda’s commitment to the organisation and offered the country as a potential host for the OACPS headquarters when it relocates from Brussels, Belgium.
“You can look at Uganda if you want to relocate here. We shall support you. The shift from Europe is also a good one, so I will support you,” President Museveni told the OACPS Secretary General during their meeting at State House Entebbe earlier this week.
Hosting the organisation’s headquarters would further position Uganda as a diplomatic and economic hub while enhancing its influence in shaping trade and development cooperation among OACPS member states.
For his part, Secretary General Moussa Saleh Batraki thanked the Government of Uganda for its continued support and reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to strengthening partnerships among member countries while advancing ongoing institutional reforms.
The renewed engagement reflects Uganda’s broader strategy of leveraging regional and international partnerships to mobilise investment, expand trade opportunities and support the country’s ambition of achieving upper-middle-income status through industrialisation and export-led growth.
