Following the July 21-24, 2026 engagements in Abuja at the request of H.E. President @KagutaMuseveni, today we were pleased to welcome Dr. Abubakar Ibrahim Kana, Permanent Secretary in Nigeria’s Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and agribusiness investor Mr Abdel Aziz Ahmed to PACEID HQ, ahead of the Uganda–Nigeria Business Forum. We returned to the practical questions that will determine whether this relationship delivers: getting Ugandan products into the Nigerian market at the Africa common market (ACFTA) rates, addressing issues of differing product standards, negotiating logistics and transportation charges, improving business mobility and connecting investors with opportunities in Uganda. Mr. Aziz already has agricultural-input operations in Uganda and outlined progress on a feed-mill investment Uganda needs. He also expressed interest in sourcing Ugandan milk, powdered milk, fish and potato products for his established Nigerian distribution network, subject to quality and competitive pricing. Our task is to follow through: connect his team with Ugandan processors, exchange product specifications and assess the costs of getting these goods to market. I thank Dr. Kana and our High Commission in Abuja, Amb Omara, for sustaining this engagement. As the Uganda Nigeria Business Forum begins, we must keep our attention on what follows the conversations: commercial orders, productive investment and greater value addition in Uganda.

Today at Parliament of Uganda, I shared PACEID’s case for deepening Pan-African and regional market value chains during EAC Parliamentary Week. East Africa’s promise will not be unlocked by speeches alone. We must build the systems that make trade work: stronger standards, better infrastructure, affordable export finance, productive regional value chains and the political will to remove barriers that slow our people down. Uganda’s opportunity is clear. We must move from exporting raw commodities to building an export powerhouse that creates jobs, strengthens industries and gives young people a real stake in the future of East Africa. The EAC must become a working market, not just an aspiration.

We are raising global children… but are we grounding them? Family is where culture is passed, where discipline is learned, and where identity is formed. Without it, education alone is not enough. Bring children closer. Let them see your work. Let them understand your journey. That is how values are built.

We often think success in agriculture is about doing more. More crops. More activities. More expansion. But the real lesson is different. Focus on one thing. Build it well. Let it generate the revenue to grow everything else. And beyond systems and structure… attitude matters. Patience. Kindness. Discipline. That’s what builds strong teams and sustainable enterprises. Africa has the resources. Now it needs the discipline to match. #AfricaDevelopment #Farming #Leadership #Uganda #Nigeria #ValueAddition #Growth

Uganda’s export journey begins in the garden, long before the container reaches the airport or the buyer’s shelf. At the CropLife Uganda Symposium, I emphasised that quality seeds, safe crop protection, farmer training, standards compliance and traceability must work together if we are to protect markets, build trust and grow agricultural exports. The garden, the classroom and the family of actors in agriculture must move as one. That is how Uganda will build a serious, safe and competitive export economy.

Uganda’s fruits and vegetables sector will not reach scale through scattered efforts. HortiFresh matters because it brings exporters together around a single agenda: aggregation, certification, logistics, and market diversification.  HortiFresh has set a target of growing the fruits and vegetables sector toward a $2 billion export opportunity over the coming years. To do that, the sector wants to work with partners in Europe, Africa, and other markets to diversify destination markets, especially at a time when instability in the Middle East is affecting trade patterns. We welcome the new board.

If Uganda gets this right, we do not just build bikes. We build frames, plastics, tyres, battery casings, electrical parts, and the technical human capital to support them. That is how jobs grow. That is how local industry deepens. That is how a country moves from consumption to production.

What a wonderful day in Bwizibwera Kashari in Mbarara today for the people of God to hear a liberation message from poverty and spiritual dryness from Pastor Robert Kayanja of Miracle centre. If we indeed feed our spirit, nourish the mind and the body, truly no part of our country should remain poor and ignorant. I thank Ricky, one of the young people we have worked with helping the people of Kashaari remember the progress of the last 40 years