Traders in northern advised to exploit Comesa markets
Packed honey for sale. Honey is one of the commodities traders in northern Uganda can export to Comesa markets. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA
Kampala. Despite the proximity between Uganda and South Sudan, traders in northern Uganda should spread their wings beyond the Juba market, the Ministry of Trade permanent secretary, Ambassador Julius Onen, has advised.
Currently, business is rather slowing down in South Sudan, the country’s biggest export market, thanks to political uncertainty in the world’s newest nation.
Ms Sandra Joyce Laker, a member of the Lira Business Community and vice chairperson of Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited, said the major exports such as honey and sesame (simsim), which primarily end up in South Sudan, done on small scale through their informal groups.
Ms Laker attributes this to lack of information on the available Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Free Trade Area (FTA). She said if such information was available earlier, they could have tried the FTA markets. She said the ministry should fund the district commercial officers who in turn should spread such information to the local business communities not just in northern Uganda but across the country.
According to Mr Onen, traders, particularly from northern Uganda, should begin enjoying the benefits of the Comesa FTA. This implies local traders will have to shift from only supplying the nearby markets to exporting to countries in South and Central Africa regions.
Uganda is a member of the FTA. This means that Ugandan exports to the FTA member countries will attract minimum or no taxes at all. Without such levies, the cost of doing businesses among countries reduces.
Comesa has 19 member states, of which 15 including; Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are members of the Comesa Free Trade Area that was launched in 2000.
The export revenues
Amount. Over the last five years, Comesa has provided a market for 57 per cent of the value of Uganda’s exports annually, earning the country an average of $1.3billion (about Shs3.3 trillion) in revenue every year.
