Some coffee varieties grown in Uganda. AFP PHOTO
Uganda’s
overall export receipts for the month of April dropped, dragged down by
sharp declines in the volumes of gold and the country’s top traditional
forex earner coffee.
This is reportedly due to the rise
in vanilla, sugar and maize exports, according to the Performance of
the Economy report, a monthly tracker produced by the Ministry of
Finance.
The report released last week shows that total
gold exports dropped to 2.2 tonnes in April from 8.6 tonnes in March.
Gold fetched Uganda $549 million in 2018 from $339 million the previous
year.
In March this year, Kampala exported gold worth
$363 million — the biggest monthly haul— that saw the country register a
trade surplus with the East African Community, the rest of Africa and
Europe. In April, however, gold earnings dropped to $88.6 million.
Coffee, Uganda’s top crop export, also declined to 306,315 60kg-bags in
April, from 348,230 bags in March. The volume of beans exports also
dropped to 4.2 tonnes, from 7.1 tonnes.
EAC EXPORTS DECLINE
Within
the EAC bloc, Kenya remains Uganda’s main trading partner. Overall
exports to the EAC declined 9.8 per cent in the year ending April 2019
to $86.79 million, from $96.22 million in April 2018.
“During the month of April 2019, the Middle East was the main
destination for Uganda’s exports, followed by the East African
Community,” the report reads.
The Finance Ministry
attributed the decline in trade with the EAC to a drop in exports to
Rwanda following the closure of the Uganda-Rwanda border at Gatuna and
Chanika in February, which affected the movement of cargo trucks. While
Rwanda recently reopened the Gatuna border for two weeks, trade did not
pick up.
Uganda’s total export earnings from Rwanda
stood at $212 million in 2018. Major goods exported are cereals,
ceramics, raw hides and skins, edible vegetables, roots and tubers,
machinery, coffee, tea, iron and steel, essential oils, cosmetics and
milk.
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