The Tanzania – Uganda Business Forum took place at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam recently (8th September) . The two sides discussed issues regarding bilateral trade and investment and steps needed to accelerate the two-way flow of trade.
The high profile Forum was attended by President John Magufuli of Tanzaia and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni. The Forum is a joint initiative of private sectors of both countries. The event was attended by over 1400 business delegates from Tanzania and over 300 businessmen from Uganda. There was focused discussion on higher cost of doing business between the two countries and within the respective countries, non –tariff trade blockades that affected the two-way and lack of trust between the authorities and the private sector of both countries. Importance of giving primacy to the private sector in both countries for creating more investments and employment was also endorsed by the Forum. The Forum was preceded by an exhibition, where product and services of both countries were displayed. The Forum also noted that the trade volumes between the two countries rose from Tsh178bn in 2015 to Tsh359bn in 2018, and endorsed the view that there was huge potential to tap.
Importantly, the Forum took place at a time, when there were reports that the French oil giant –Total-is preparing to withdraw from the proposed US$ 3.6 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). Both the countries are involved in the pipe line project, which can considerably impact their economies. The two heads of states held detailed parleys on the subject. It is still not known the outcome of the meeting; though unofficial reports suggest that they are inching towards a solution. The Tanzanian President, a few days ago, appealed to the Tanzanian and Ugandan ministries overseeing the pipeline construction works to sort out the pending issues of the French company to facilitate the pipe construction. The Total has threatened to stop the work and withdraw its staff from the site following a collapse of a deal of Tullow Oil Company to sell its stake to Total and China Offshore Oil Company. Total had referred to this impasse as unfavourable creating uncertain business conditions. Since 2017, Tanzania has been blaming Uganda for the delays that had caused to the $3.6b project
