By Moses Kaketo
The famous British Prime Minister called Uganda the pearl of Africa. The landscape was simply amazing. This beauty has also extended the inhabitants. Foreigners, especially the whites who have visited this land have fond stories of the wonderful hospitality accorded to them by Ugandans.
But others think we give with both hands and then beg for the same things that we ‘donated’. This may hold some grain of truth especially if you look at the country’s balance of payments. It has perennially been in the negative side of the number line. We spend heavily on importing the same things that we could make locally make using local resources.
It’s excruciating to see Ugandans buy imported goods yet we could easily make the same products locally, sorry to say we are running low on some of the resources we once had in loads.
The latest, Ugandan market both high and low end (visit any suburb) is occupied by imported furniture- the so called white furniture – used in home furniture and office furniture. This is usually imported mainly from Dubai, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
The White furniture market in Uganda is booming as reflected in the ever-increasing number of big and small players joining the business: This trend has significantly contributed to a reduction in Uganda’s trade deficit rise from $ 4.5m (Ugx. 13bn) in 2013 to $ 4.7m (Ugx. 13.9 bn) in 2014.
Last year, the country’s imports increased to $6.1 bn (Ugx.18.1 trillion) from $6bn (Ugx. 17.8 trillion) over the same period. Exports on the other hand were estimated at $ 2.65bn (Ugx.7.8 trillion) last year down from $ 2.82 bn (Ugx. 8.3 trillion) in 2013.
A visit to Jinja road tells the story. Your eyes are engrossed by large shops selling imported home and office furniture-here you meet-Nina interiors, Footsteps, Prime Impex and host of other Chinese brand names.
Bukoto has also been invaded: Furniture City, ORCA Tex, High point Furniture, Biplous Uganda among others. That is just the tip of an iceberg. Nearly all leading supermarkets have a section for white furniture.
In the suburbs one gets to see White furniture for the low end. Regrettably, while some of this furniture gives the impression of being elegant, they easily break and the shiny supposedly leather covers peel off sooner than expected, hence this bad feeling of daylight robbery for a pricey item. At the end of it all, we are sending away money to someone in Malaysia and China and denying more Ugandans employment.
A survey done by this magazine revealed a set of home chairs costs an average of Ugx 6M. A visit to local stores-home made products reveals a big difference in the prices. One wonders how imported products can out compete local products yet the former has to meet certain costs including freight costs, taxes etc.
Kalangala forest give away-the missed opportunities.
The ‘bad’ decision the country took in 2007, is beginning to have an impact in form of heavy furniture importation, already February and March 2015, were extremely hot. Local media has been reporting that more farmers in Kalangala are abandoning palm oil growing citing low prices for the palms.
According to National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), an estimated 3,600 hectares of ancient and bio-diverse forest in Kalangala have been destroyed in last eight years to give way for palm tree growing.
The proponents of Palm Oil project argued that the project would bring in a lot of wealth opportunities for the locals and Ugandans in general. So we had to demolish Kalangala forests for the money making palm trees. Mabira forest was also going in a similar manner, but thanks to efforts of some foresighted environmentalists and Ugandans, it stalled, though we don’t know for how long.
The Kalangala, giveaway has been described as bad move. Something that destroyed the entire economy.
Eight years after the Kalangala give way, we are now importing furniture in tonnes.
In his 2015 State of the Nation Address, President Museveni noted that Uganda’s forests presents immense opportunities to Ugandan youth.
The president explained that a lot of products can be made from the country’s soft and hard wood: ‘‘From timber, there are many traditional products we can make out wood. I have been attending exhibitions. I have seen wood products made by young people. They are making wooden plates, cups, spoons, milk pots, combs etc. These products are long lasting. I have promised them support and encourage Ugandans to support them by buying these products. I have promised them government supports them when money becomes available.’’
In 2007, Palm oil Uganda Ltd, a subsidiary of Bidco–Uganda, cleared natural forest in Kalangala district to plant Palm trees. Several people came out to criticize the action.
Anne Van Schalk an official from Friends of Earth Europe was quoted in Daily Monitor Newspaper last month saying: ‘‘Forests have been torn down. People’s livelihood disregarded and devastated for short term profit of climate destroying oil palm industry.’’
Among others, the forest could be source of tourism attraction. How about if we built a five Star hotel in heart of Kalangala forest? This would not only preserve nature, but bring in foreign exchange. What do tourists/ visitors see when they come here? Tall buildings, eat European foods? Why not treat them to something different? And Kalangala forest would give them a different treat. Now that Oil production is threatening some of environment, what will be left?
According to experts, there are several sources of cooking which one could opt for and save our forests for other things.
Back then, Uganda Prisons used to grow a special tree called Esogasoga, which was used to produce cooking oil. The rest of the tree was used to produce soap, cattle feeds among others.
The oil Palm project currently covers 1,200 hectares on the mainland island of Bugala.
About the author:
Moses Kaketo works with Summit Business Review Magazine, holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Uganda Management Institute, A professional diploma in marketing (CIM) and bachelor’s degree in Education. He sees business in everything. He loves writing business news, reviews and analyses.
Twitter: @mkaketo