Ugandan, South African leaders urge greater trade in Africa

MOGOMOTSI MAGOME

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni has called for stronger trade relations among African countries and lamented the high cost of buying products and services outside the continent.

Museveni on Tuesday began a state visit to South Africa in a bid to encourage better economic ties between Uganda and Africa’s most developed economy.

He met with President Cyril Ramaphosa accompanied by members of his cabinet who were scheduled to meet with their South African counterparts and sign various trade and bilateral agreements.

Making brief remarks ahead of the meeting with Ramaphosa, Museveni emphasized the importance of intracontinental trade, while highlighting some of the challenges that were making this difficult to achieve.

Among some of his priorities were the procurement of coal from South Africa to be used to transform Uganda’s high-grade iron ore into steel, Museveni said.

“Our part of the world, as you can see, is very far from