President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Vladimir Putin of Russia held bi-lateral talks on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit on Wednesday at the Sirius Park of Art and Science in Sochi.
President Museveni’s entourage included Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon.Sam Kuteesa, Energy and Minerals Development Minister Engineer Irene Muloni, Space scientist Dr. Doreen Agaba, Senior Presidential Advisor on Defence and Security Lt. Gen. Proscovia Nalweyiso.
President Museveni highlighted the historical ties between Russia and Africa during the fight against colonialism and imperialism where Russia supported Africa.
President Museveni also added;
“Russia and Uganda are cooperating very well in the areas of Defense and Security. With support from Russia, we are working on building workshops for maintenance and overhaul of equipment like aircrafts.”
The motive of the bilateral talks between Russia and Uganda is to increase Cooperation between the two nation states in the areas of manufacture of human and livestock vaccines, exploration of space technology, cyber technology and agriculture among others.
Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the common task at the present was to develop trade between the two countries.
Putin praised the efforts between the two countries in the natural resources sector within the framework of the intergovernmental commission established in April 2018 that developed in Uganda a national system for exploring, assessing and verifying mineral deposits with analytical laboratories internationally accredited.
Russia – Africa Summit
This is the first ever Russia Africa Summit that brought more than 50 African leaders to Sochi and co-chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdul Farrah who is also chairperson of the African Union.
The summit aims to strengthen trade and bilateral relations between Russia and Africa and saw Moscow write off more than 200 billion dollars in debt accumulated by African countries during the Soviet era.
Russian President Putin stated that;
“We do not impose our views respecting the principle of “African solutions to African problems” proposed by Africans themselves.”
The world is a global village where Uganda has to interact with other states thus the Russia Africa Summit provides the Ugandan economy with an opportunity to widen it’s market base for her products, attract investments and tourism that are vital for the economy’s leap to middle income status.
