Why buy from Europe? Uganda pitches direct coffee sales to Nigeria

Uganda could sell its coffee straight to Nigeria rather than through European and US traders, business leaders argued at a Kampala trade forum, as both governments pledged to turn years of diplomatic goodwill into actual deals.

Stephen Asiimwe, chief executive of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), said Nigeria imported about 14,000 tonnes of coffee a year, much of it bought from the same European and US markets that already buy Uganda’s beans. He asked why Uganda could not supply that market directly instead. Nigeria — where Lagos alone has about 22 million people — was a market Uganda had barely tapped, he said.

Coffee was among several deals said to be under discussion. Ambassador Richard Kabonero, who leads economic and commercial diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, listed cement, hides and skins, coffee and cattle among the areas already being talked through. The Minister of State for Trade, General Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, urged exporters to add value to coffee, dairy and sugar rather than ship raw commodities.

The push came as the Uganda–Nigeria Business Forum and Exhibition closed on Wednesday, with officials on both sides declaring that the era of speeches was over.

‘The real work must begin’

Closing the forum, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Cooperation, Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, directed Uganda’s investment agencies, line ministries and diplomatic missions in Kampala and Abuja to set up a joint mechanism to follow up every business lead and to clear the barriers holding up deals.

“The speeches and good English are now over. The real work must begin,” Kasolo said. He said the forum should be judged not by presentations or hospitality but by tangible outcomes — higher trade volumes, capital invested, and memoranda of understanding turned into joint ventures, factories and supply chains.

Kasolo pledged that the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC), a government-to-government body postponed since 2024, would not be put off again. Officials confirmed the commission, meant to accompany the forum, had not been convened.

The leader of the Nigerian delegation, Dr Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, permanent secretary in the office of Nigeria’s secretary to the government of the federation, said a cooperation agreement would be signed before the end of 2026. He said the delay had been on Nigeria’s side and that he was acting on a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The forum was held on 9–10 September at the Mestil Hotel in Nsambya, Kampala, under the theme “Enhancing business linkages and market access through the AfCFTA framework”. Organised by Uganda’s high commission in Abuja with both governments, it brought together more than 20 Nigerian firms and Ugandan businesses across agro-processing, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, energy, technology, tourism and logistics.

Trade ‘barely scratched the surface’

Figures cited at the forum for trade between the two countries varied widely and were not reconciled. Kasolo said Uganda’s exports to Nigeria had grown from $4m to $27.2m. Dr Sam Omara, of Uganda’s high commission in Abuja, put two-way trade at $34.5m, up from $4m, helped by Uganda Airlines flights to Nigeria. Asiimwe estimated current trade at about $21m, while organisers’ figures showed Uganda exported about $2.09m of goods to Nigeria in 2021 and imported about $814,380 in return.

Kasolo linked the drive to a government target of expanding Uganda’s economy tenfold, to $500bn, by 2040.

Opening the forum, General Mbadi said trade was growing but had “barely scratched the surface”. Uganda’s exports to Nigeria were dominated by raw and processed tobacco, agricultural commodities and animal products, he said, while imports were mainly rubber products, poultry supplies and technical equipment. Kabonero said the forum was part of a strategy to use Nigeria as a gateway to West Africa, and pointed to Nigeria’s Nollywood and Uganda’s “Wakaliwood” film industries as scope for collaboration.

Barriers to deals

Business leaders used the forum to press for barriers to be removed.

Ajay Kumar Pal, chief executive of the drug manufacturer Quality Chemical Industries (QCIL), said registering a Ugandan product in Nigeria took between one and two years, which he called the biggest non-tariff barrier, and urged the two countries to recognise each other’s regulators ahead of a planned African Medicines Agency. Both countries imported about 70% of their medicines from outside Africa, he said.

Kenneth Kisambira, managing director of United Bank for Africa in Uganda, said payments between African countries were often routed through banks and currencies outside the continent, and called for wider use of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (Papss).

Aviation ran through both days. Uganda Airlines flies to Nigeria and plans to launch an Entebbe–Accra service next month, but Uganda has not joined the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), which has about 38 members. Girma Wake, the interim chief executive of Uganda Airlines, backed the move, describing airlines as bridges between societies; Dr Kana also urged Uganda to sign up.

Philip Odida, who heads Uganda’s high commission in Abuja, put Nigeria’s economy at about $377bn against Uganda’s $67bn, and described Nigeria as an entry point to a West African market of about 300 million people. “It’s time for Africa to circle our wagons and deal with trade amongst ourselves,” he said.