President Museveni has hosted a high-level delegation from the Saudi Arabia at State House, Entebbe, in talks aimed at strengthening bilateral economic cooperation and expanding investment opportunities.
The Saudi delegation, led by Ali O. Alswayeh, thanked the President for the meeting and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to increasing investment in Uganda, with agriculture — particularly coffee value addition — identified as a priority sector.
President Museveni welcomed the delegation and noted that while Uganda and Saudi Arabia have maintained cordial relations over the years, economic cooperation has not yet reached its full potential.
“We have been working together for a long time, but we have not fully engaged to maximise our investment opportunities,” the President said.
The discussions focused significantly on the Value at Source Coffee Project (VASP), an agro-industrial initiative spearheaded by Nonda Coffee that seeks to transition Uganda from exporting raw coffee beans to exporting branded, high-value finished coffee products.
Central to the initiative is the proposed Luwero Coffee Park in Luwero District, an integrated industrial complex projected to process 42,000 metric tons of coffee annually and generate an estimated USD 850 million in revenue each year.
The facility is designed to manage 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 about 1,500 direct jobs and approximately 3,000 indirect jobs in logistics, retail and related services, while integrating more than 100,000 coffee farming households into a structured supply chain.
The Saudi market is seen as a strategic gateway to the wider Middle East, one of the fastest-growing coffee consumption regions globally. Officials said expanded access to the market could boost demand for premium Ugandan coffee and strengthen bilateral trade ties.
The meeting underscored a shared commitment to investment-led growth, private sector development and value addition as drivers of economic transformation.
President Museveni has consistently maintained that exporting finished goods rather than raw materials is essential for increasing export earnings, creating jobs and accelerating industrialisation.
The talks concluded with both sides expressing commitment to deepen cooperation in agro-processing, industrial development and market expansion, signalling renewed momentum in Uganda–Saudi Arabia economic relations.
