LETTER FROM KAMPALA
UNDER AFRICAN SKIES
In his role with Traidlinks in Uganda, James Mulhall (MBA 05) has seen the country undergo significant development in recent years, with the country ripe for investment
U
GANDA has seen significant progress since the late Eighties, in no small part thanks to the relatively stable presidency of YoweriMuseveni who took power in 1986. There has been an
average growth of 7pc in GDP over the last decade. As I write, elec- tions have just wrapped up here, resulting in Museveni staying in situ for another five-year term. It’s a far-from-perfect system, but Western-backed economic reforms have paid dividends, and the recent discovery of oil could, if properly managed, see even greater progress in a country whose trade is still dominated by coffee exports. It is all a far cry from the days of Idi Amin, when some half a million people lost their lives in state- sponsored violence. I’ve been in Uganda on and off since taking up a role with
Traidlinks back in 2005, and I’ve spent the past three and a half years here in the capital, Kampala. This is a city of nearly two million people but there’s very much a small town atmosphere, with a grow- ing competitive business community. Traidlinks facilitates the Irish business community to engage in commercial and socio-economic activities, to promote enterprise and alleviate poverty in the developing world. My involvement started toward the end ofmy full-timeMBA, when an internship opportunity arose. Traidlinks was working on a scoping project to develop the pri- vate sector and encourage the import of products from Uganda and East
Africa.Myself and my classmate NicolaMcGrath went and met with Liam Fitzgerald and Michael Carey, founding directors of Traidlinks. That two-month project quickly turned into six, and then 12 months. It was an incredible learning experience for us both. Today, I’m still with Traidlinks, based out of the Kampala office,
wheremy role is to support local businesses and to serve as a conduit for Irish businesses that are interested in investing in Uganda and East Africa. Over here, politics is very much a part of doing business. I’ve learned a lot here about how the functions of government work, and what a negative impact it can have when they don’t work, and how that all intertwines with business. You have to understand the context. Twenty-five years ago there
was nothing going on here, and there is still no real industrial base or, indeed, skills base. You’re looking at a very young population, and an average life expectancy of about 55. That is low, but when I first arrived here that stood at 47 years, so it is steadily increasing.
The signs of development can be seen today in the city, in the building of hotels, of tarred roads, and in the amount of traffic on the roads. That said, Uganda is a country that is still very much rural- based, with some 80pc of the population living outside cities and towns. As for Uganda’s growth, I would say some 20pc of the popu- lation are experiencing growth while the other 80pc are
not.Uganda has the highest area of arable land in East Africa, but farming has stagnated somewhat in recent years due to a lack of investment. The potential for the agri-food market is huge, with a population of 30 million in Uganda and 159 million in East Africa. As for Kampala, if you compare it to somewhere like Dublin, it is
mayhem and potholes, but relative to other African cities such as Addis Ababa in Ethiopa it is a far more developed city. If you’ve been to Nairobi in Kenya, I would say Kampala is about 15 years behind. Political stability and peace will be vital ifUganda is to continue to
develop.Museveni may not be perfect, but he has done a superb job of bringing the country from nowhere to where it is today. The only fear would be that he overstay his welcome. If there is a calm transi- tion to a new leader, then he will have left an excellent legacy. Peace and stability are just so important for the development of a country like Uganda, he must be given great credit for that. Here you have 15 million people under the age of 15; that equates
to 250,000 people coming onto the jobs market here every year. That’s why it is so vital that Uganda gets the oil equation right. The administration must get the oil revenue in and spend it to create jobs. People often talk about corruption in Uganda, and yes there is corruption here, but it takes time to build a country, to build an edu- cated middle-class, to become a more mature well-run country. It is a country that is heading that direction and, as such, offers great pos- sibilities to those looking to do business in Africa. If you are looking to experience a very different part of the world,
there’s plenty of opportunity inUganda and, indeed, in Africa. This in many ways is the final frontier, the last part of the world with significant growth and change ahead for its future. Businesses would do well to look to Africa for opportunities to invest. Yes, there are different risks, but that of course also means there are greater rewards to be had.
JamesMulhall is deputy general manager of Traidlinks. UCD BUSINESS CONNECTIONS 39
Photo: John Daly, Fairtrade Ireland
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