Museveni flies to Tanzania for energy pact, two-day talks

President Yoweri Museveni flew into Dar es Salaam on Wednesday to sign an energy cooperation pact with Tanzania and open two days of talks that place power and fuel infrastructure at the centre of relations between the two neighbours.

Museveni made the trip at the invitation of his counterpart, Samia Suluhu Hassan, for bilateral discussions the two governments say are aimed at widening strategic cooperation. A memorandum of understanding on energy, to be witnessed by both leaders once the talks conclude, binds Uganda and Tanzania to closer collaboration in a sector already carried by shared oil and gas infrastructure running between them.

Beyond energy, the agenda set out by Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation stretches across trade and investment, transport and logistics, tourism, peace and security, and regional integration. The two leaders are also expected to measure progress on joint projects under way and to tackle the bottlenecks holding back trade, investment and broader economic ties.

The visit is Museveni’s second to Tanzania this year and carries a stocktaking role alongside the fresh agreements. Chief among the items up for review are the resolutions reached at the Fifth Session of the Tanzania-Uganda Joint Permanent Commission in March, which laid out a cooperation roadmap across areas of mutual interest.

Both governments frame the two days as a push to quicken economic integration between the two East African Community members, with the declared goal of lifting cross-border trade and investment.