By Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. The Ugandan Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, revealed this week that the government is in talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to construct Kidepo International Airport, which will be Uganda’s second biggest airport after Entebbe. Uganda’s tourism sector is fully recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic effects that plunged the sector. That is why the government has now embarked on massive tourism growth and heritage conservation efforts to ensure the total recovery of the country’s biggest foreign earner.
Tourism-Airport connection
According to the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, among the efforts of the construction of Kidepo International Airport in northern Uganda to attract and ease the movement of international arrivals. Minister of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, Tom Butime, explained that instead of international tourists arriving at Entebbe Airport and driving to Kidepo National Park, which is hundreds of miles away, they will land directly at Kidepo International Airport to ease the movement. The Ugandan northern airport is expected to bring us hundreds of thousands of tourists. The tourists instead of landing at Entebbe, they will land directly at Kidepo International Airport, go to the national park, drive through Kutgum to Gulu, cross the Nile if they wish, and go to Murchison Falls National Park. They will then drive on the tarmac to Fort Portal, Kibaale, Semuliki, Rwenzori, Queen Elizabeth National Park, then to Mbarara to Lake Mburo National Park, and back to Kampala.
Why UAE
According to Minister Butime Uganda and the UAE have very strong ties, and the two nations are working together in the area of tourism investment and other areas. Adding that it is the reason why the United Arab Emirates will construct Kidepo International Airport. He added that the good relations between the two countries relationships are extremely cordial. Recently, the United Arab Emirates has been a favoured trade partner for Uganda. Besides being a major source of oil, the United Arab Emirates has emerged as one of the largest suppliers of goods and services to Uganda. Last year, Uganda’s head of state appealed to the UAE’s business community to come and invest in Uganda and take advantage of many untapped opportunities available in the country. He described Uganda as a virgin goldmine with several business opportunities provided by its fast-growing population of more than 43 million people.
The first Signing Off on the Construction
In 2023, the president of the Republic of Uganda H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni met with a team from the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by the chamber’s Board of Directors Chairman, Abdallah Sultan Al Owais at State House Entebbe where President Museveni approved the airport’s development. Museveni assured the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry that they will be tax-exempt as the project progresses. The Sharjah team informed the President that the airport when completed, will have a 3,500-metre runway to accommodate aircraft such as the Boeing B777.
Relations between Uganda and UAE
The relationship between Uganda and the United Arab Emirates is strong, strategically invaluable, and is developing further. Uganda has signed several agreements with the UAE and others are being negotiated. The UAE is the most important crossroad country in the Middle East, linking Uganda with the Middle East and the most important hub for transiting to America and Europe, to the West Asia-China, and Japan to the East. The UAE’s foreign direct investment in Uganda is at 400 million dollars and on an upward trajectory. In 2019 Uganda enjoyed a positive trade balance with export to the UAE at 1.2 billion dollars against 563 million dollars in imports, which shows that the trade relations between the two nations are growing so fast. In 2020, the Middle East’s total imports were valued at USD 819 billion. Uganda contributed exports valued at USD1.9 billion, a 0.23 percent market share.
Uganda’s tourism sector
According to the 2023 tourism industry performance report, international tourist arrivals reached 1.2 billion visitors in 2023, up 56.5 percent from 2022 (814,508). Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s international tourism recovered 82.6 percent of its pre-pandemic levels (-17.4 percent versus pre-pandemic year 2019). This means that 82.6 percent of international tourists who visited Uganda in 2019 have returned. To enhance the experience of foreign tourists in the country and attract more international visitors, the government of Uganda has embarked on the rehabilitation of roads leading to Uganda’s tourist attractions, especially the national parks. Uganda is a multi-cultural country with diverse landscapes. It is also home to the highest remaining number of endangered mountain gorillas. The great ape is one of Uganda’s main tourist attractions, along with Chimpanzees, and more than a thousand bird species. Tourism in Uganda is increasingly an important contributor to its economy. The millions of international arrivals, combined with a growing number of domestic tourists, generated 7.75 percent of the GDP and 6.7 percent of the total national employment in 2018.
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