Lord Popat meets President Museveni to strengthen ties with Uganda

Thursday 21st April 2022 05:11 EDT
 

In the year that marks the 60th year of Uganda’s independence, as well as the 50th anniversary of the expulsion of Ugandan Asians, Lord Dolar Popat – the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda travelled to Kampala to meet with President Museveni to help champion the government’s global Britain agenda and strengthen bilateral relations with the region.

 

During the visit, Lord Popat met with President Yoweri Museveni to discuss a number of bilateral interests between Uganda and the United Kingdom, including in health, investment, energy, transport and agriculture. This follows a record £2.5bn coverage made available by UK Export Finance to help industrialise Uganda. 

 

Joined by the British High Commissioner for Uganda, Her Excellency Kate Airey OBE, one of the main issues raised during the meeting was the delayed introduction of the new Uganda Airlines service between Heathrow and Entebbe. This was a deal Lord Popat first spearheaded in 2018, after he helped negotiate the deal with the Ugandan government and Airbus to purchase two new aircrafts, which has Rolls Royce engines made in the UK. Sadly, the service has still not commenced with the new Uganda Airlines airbuses sitting on the tarmac in Entebbe.

 

The new service would be invaluable to boosting tourism in Uganda – already an attractive destination for Brits. In response to the frustration, President Museveni promised to push both Uganda Airlines and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to work together to ensure all legal requirements were met. Lord Popat assured President Museveni by saying, “if Uganda is willing, we are ready to send our aviation people here to help CAA so that we can have direct flights to the UK”. 

 

The meeting was also invaluable to coordinating greater collaboration between the UK and Uganda’s healthcare systems. This includes a coordinated plan to recruit Ugandan nurses to work in the UK to address current labour shortages.  

Speaking at the meeting, Lord Popat added the Uganda was an attractive source for the recruitment of nurses as they are English speaking, with an ideal opportunity to upskill and train nurses here in the UK.

By 2020, Uganda had over 70,000 nurses and midwives registered with the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council, although only 48,000 were in employment. Nurses and midwives make upover 75% of the health workforce in the country. At present, data from major job boards estimates the average annual salary for a nurse in the UK to’ be between 33,000 (shl54m) and 35,000 (shl64m), depending on one’s experience.

The campaign of recruiting Ugandan nurses comes ahead of the UK Ugandan Health Forum in London next week, in the presence of the Vice President of Uganda, Hon Jessica Alupo and the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine. 

 

Other issues included investing in improving Uganda’s standards and processing of agricultural products that are acceptable to the international market. Speaking at the meeting President Museveni said “standards and processing of agricultural products is crucial, like poultry products, milk, sugar, etc. They are very cheap because of low cost of production," he said. Lord Popat said “Uganda’s culture is agriculture. We want to support this particular area of agriculture because the demand for agricultural products is high in the UK."

 

Lord Popat also used the meeting to extend the sincere condolences from Prime Minister Boris Johnson to President Museveni following the recent passing of the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Jacob Oulanyah. 

 

The meeting was symbolic in highlighting the shared values between Uganda and the UK. Concluding the meeting, President Museveni acknowledged that the role Lord Popat played was critical in furthering business and trading links. Lord Popat has subsequently gone full circle and has served as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda since 2016 to the country of his birth. 

 

Lord Popat’s business background meant he felt particularly at home meeting with a range of both Ugandan and British business and discussing the further growth of UK trade and investment.  They discussed how the private sector can work alongside the UK government to bring mutual prosperity to both the UK and Uganda. Greater private and public sector collaboration is in the interests of all parties, with all Ugandans standing to benefit from creating jobs, breeding innovation, and transferring technology.

Speaking after the visit, Trade Envoy Lord Popat said: “I recognise the immense potential of Uganda, but now is the time to turn that potential into tangible commercial outcomes. The aim of my visit this week is to turn opportunities into deals, but I need the support of the Government of Uganda, business, and most importantly, the people of Uganda if we are to strengthen trade relations to grow our mutual prosperity”

 

 

 

 


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