President Yoweri Museveni is set to be hosted by his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, the Nile Post has learnt.
According to the office of the South African president, Ramaphosa will host his Ugandan counterpart, for a State Visit to Pretoria later today.
“President Museveni’s visit is directed at consolidating bilateral relations between the two countries, with discussions between the two Heads of State encompassing political, economic, regional, continental and international issues,” the office of the president of South Africa said in a statement on Monday.
President Museveni is accompanied to South Africa by several cabinet ministers and a business delegation who will participate in the South Africa-Uganda Business Forum that ends today.
The two heads of state are expected to address the business forum later today at the Gallagher Convention Centre .
The business forum will offer the private sector in South Africa and Uganda a platform to explore trade and investment opportunities.
Uganda is South Africa’s 15th-largest trading partner on the continent and the second-largest in East Africa.
Between 2017 and 2021, total trade between the two countries reached a peak of R3 billion, which the two countries agree is well below potential.
South Africa’s exports to the Republic of Uganda increased from R2.18 billion in 2017 to R3.12 billion in 2018.
The value of South Africa’s imports from Uganda increased from R127 million in 2017 to R323 million in 2020.
.The two heads of state will witness the signing of an MoU on Cooperation between the Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC), Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) and Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL); MoU on Cooperation in Tourism; MoU on Cooperation in Transport Related Matters; MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Information and Communication Technologies; MoU on Cooperation in the field of Correctional Services and Prisons; and the MoU on Cooperation in the fields of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
This is the first visit by President Museveni to South Africa in more than 10 years.
Museveni’s last visit to South Africa was in January 2011.