President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Tuesday hosted a high-level delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at State House Entebbe, in a move aimed at strengthening bilateral economic ties and unlocking new investment opportunities between the two countries.
The delegation, led by Mr. Ali O Alswayeh, expressed appreciation to the President for the audience and reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to expanding its investment footprint in Uganda.
Agriculture, particularly coffee value addition, was highlighted as one of the Kingdom’s key priority areas of interest.
President Museveni welcomed the delegation and commended its members for recognising Uganda’s untapped investment potential.
He noted that despite longstanding cordial relations between the two nations, available economic opportunities had not been fully maximised.
“We have been working together for a long time, but we have not fully engaged to maximise our investment opportunities,” the President said.
The meeting also discussed the Value at Source Coffee Project (VASP), an agro-industrial initiative spearheaded by Nonda Coffee.
The project seeks to transition Uganda from exporting raw coffee beans to exporting branded, high-value finished coffee products.
Central to this transformation is the proposed Luwero Coffee Park, an integrated industrial complex planned for Luwero District.
The facility is projected to have an annual processing capacity of 42,000 metric tons of coffee and generate about USD 850 million in annual revenue.
The coffee park will handle the entire coffee value chain, including cleaning, grading, roasting, grinding, soluble and specialty coffee production, packaging, branding and export of finished products.
The project is expected to create approximately 1,500 direct jobs and about 3,000 indirect jobs in logistics, retail and auxiliary services, while integrating more than 100,000 coffee farming households into a structured supply chain.
Officials noted that the Saudi market presents a strategic gateway into the broader Middle East, one of the fastest-growing coffee consumption regions globally.
The anticipated expansion is expected to boost demand for premium Ugandan coffee, strengthen bilateral trade ties and create sustainable markets for local farmers.
The meeting underscored a shared commitment by both countries to investment-led growth, private sector development and value addition as key drivers of economic transformation.
President Museveni has consistently emphasised value addition as a central pillar of Uganda’s development strategy, noting that exporting finished goods rather than raw materials is critical to increasing export earnings, creating jobs and accelerating industrialisation.
Discussions concluded with a renewed commitment from both sides to deepen trade and investment cooperation, particularly in agro-processing, industrial development and market expansion.
The engagement marked a significant step toward strengthening Uganda–Saudi Arabia economic relations and advancing mutually beneficial partnerships in strategic sectors.
