Trade, Industry and Cooperatives minister Amelia Kyambadde has urged Ugandan traders to be prudent in their finances in order to compete favourably. Kyambadde made the remarks while flagging off 40 traders sponsored by Barclays bank on a trade relations tour of India. "Currently, Uganda is witnessing trade imbalance with India to the tune of $900m, a situation that is worrying," she said.

Kyambadde, therefore, urged small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) to master the art of doing business profitably. Kyambadde thanked Barclays bank for supporting traders and noted that the Indian tour would go a long way in creating the much-needed trade links between the two countries.

Charles Ongwae, Barclays Bank Managing Director, highlighted the bank's commitment to supporting its business customers to open up avenues for business growth. "At Barclays, we see ourselves as trade facilitators. We provide suitable financial solutions to enable our customers to carry out trade in goods and services," he said.

For the last five years, Barclays has been organising trade development missions of their customers in various countries like China, Malaysia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.

"These trips are important because they create opportunities on new trade horizons for our people. Several of them have established networks and grown their businesses," added Ongwae.