Amon B. Mbekiza
1 November 2009
Parliament is in a tug-of war with the Foreign Affairs Ministry over Shs17 billion the ministry says it needs to build a market for Ugandan traders in Juba. Whatever reasons Parliament has this money should not be passed.
For starters, this is the wrong ministry doing the wrong thing. The docket falls under the directorate of external trade or Comesa Desk at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry.
Two, constructing a market in Juba will not render us more competitive than Kenyans, the main players in the market. It is high time we started doing things the proper and professional way, or we lose out as usual. All the trouble Ugandans have gone through in Juba has its genesis in our informality and lone-ranger modus operandi. And what makes Kenyans tick?
In the case of Southern Sudan, when it became clear that peace was on the horizon, following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Khartoum and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement, KAM, the umbrella association of Kenyan manufacturers, spearheaded what is known as the 'Opportunity Juba' exercise.
All intending businesses; individual or corporate, registered and organised under KAM. Kenya Commercial Bank came in next and opened a branch in Juba. Support services (transport, insurance, medical cover, camping tents ) all registered under KAM followed shortly thereafter.
All manufacturers and their distributors, regardless of location, were given Export Processing Zone (EPZ) terms of trade, as demanded by KAM. Diplomatic and consular matters relating to travel and residence had a coordinating focal person in KAM.
And they went, pitched camp and conquered. In came Ugandans, in our usual ' Park-Yard' style.
How will a Ugandan carrying a few cartons of Royco from Kikuubo, with all costs and profits loaded onto his purchasing price, compete with the Kenyan who sources the same product ex-factory, under EPZ terms, with an export credit line, and all other aids to smoothen his trade?
Outcompeted, Ugandans did what we know best: ferry in juju men to ward off Kenyan competition. When the juju men were chased out, our trump card? Government to build a market in Juba. It will not work.
Just recently Parliament was told that for Ugandans to access Mpondwe Market at the border with DR Congo in Kasese District, they must go through a check point manned by Congolese authorities. Apparently the Congolese authorities claim the market is on their soil yet Agriculture Minister Hope Mwesigye says it is on the Ugandan side only that the border pillars were shifted temporarily. The market was constructed using a loan obtained from World Bank.
Time to learn and do things professionally, or keep losing out even where we as a country invested heavily as we did in SPLA/M.
A similar scenario played out in Rwanda, where the RPF war was literally a Ugandan war, but after the liberation, who got the juicy spoils? At the time I registered my 'ex-officio' membership 10 years ago, there were 1,241 Kenyans working in Rwanda; all professionals in different sectors: private, govt, NGO, UN, name it. And Ugandans? Running 'kifuufu' garages in Gatsata, 'tonninyira' in Nyamirambo and Kicukiro! Ask the ambassador who would lose his mobile phones to his countrymen during Uganda national day celebrations at his residence!
We shouldered the African National Congress struggle more than Kenya did. But who reaps most? Kenyans need no visas to travel to South Africa despite their business rivalry bordering on hostility with South African companies in the EAC. Uganda widely opened doors to South African capital, but we have no visa waiver to South Africa.
Fellows at the Directorate of External Trade of the Trade ministry, Uganda Export Promotion Board, Uganda Manufacturers Association, Private Sector Foundation, Uganda Chamber of Commerce, this is what branding is all about. This is what we mean when we talk of carving a niche. This is the meaning of positioning.
As Ugandans, we have carved out our own niche in the perception of our neighbouring markets! We cannot keep exporting witchdoctors, hawkers et al and think that building another Mbizzinnya or Park Yard market in Juba is the solution. Not even the billions squandered on CNN or the American lobbyist Rosa Whitaker! Let's learn the basics, shape up or ship out.
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