Dr. Nelson Tugume, CEO of Inspire Africa, joined day two of the Annual Retreat on the implementation of Uganda’s Economic and Commercial Diplomacy (ECD) Strategy at Mestil Hotel, Kampala.
Session 1 was a panel discussion on MDAs’ perspectives on ECD implementation, covering trade promotion, export development and market access. The conversation turned repeatedly to the same question the park exists to answer: how a country that grows a great deal of coffee captures more of what that coffee is worth.
Alongside him on the panel were Brenda Katarikawe Opus, Markets and Communication Director at PACEID; Richard Okot Okello, Assistant Commissioner for External Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives; and Daniel Arorwa, Manager of Market Surveillance at the Uganda National Bureau of Standards.
Export competitiveness is not only a matter of volume. Standards, market access and the diplomatic groundwork behind a trade relationship decide whether a shipment is welcome when it arrives, which is why a retreat like this one matters to a roastery in Ntungamo.
