Ugandan minister urges Africa to process its raw materials
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Pmldaily
Uganda’s Defence Minister Kiryowa Kiwanuka has called on African countries to process their raw materials on the continent rather than export them unprocessed. He made the case at the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, citing Ugandan copper, reports PMldaily.
Uganda’s Defence Minister, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, on Saturday called on African countries to process their raw materials on the continent rather than export them unprocessed. He said development should increase people’s incomes and not be limited to infrastructure, speaking at the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa in Bahir Dar, reports Pmldaily.
Kiwanuka cited Ugandan copper, which was once exported before the country bought finished products made from the resource. In his view, African markets are large enough to absorb the continent’s resources, and local processing would reduce dependence on foreign markets.
Kenya’s Deputy President Kithure Kindiki defended a similar position on minerals, agricultural products and energy. He also called on African countries to deal with all foreign powers without aligning themselves with any one of them, describing Africa as “a partner of all, the satellite of no one”.
The forum, devoted this year to the link between peace and economic independence, ends on Sunday. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also defended his landlocked country’s access to the sea and announced that Ethiopia now sells electricity to Kenya, Sudan, Djibouti and Tanzania. He said gold had brought the country about $5.6 billion during the last financial year. His intervention came the day after Museveni called on Sheema farmers to develop irrigation in Uganda.
