Tapping into West Nile’s investment opportunities

An aerial view of Arua Town with improved roads and housing facilities in the central business town. PHOTO BY CLEMENT ALUMA

What you need to know:

  • Next month, private investors, investment arms of governments and officials from the North Eastern DRC, Northern Uganda and South Sudan will exchange ideas on investment opportunities in West Nile. Here, Arua Town will host the first West Nile Investment Symposium, aimed at attracting potential investors. Prosper magazine interviewed the National Organising Committee chairman of the Investment Symposium Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari who expounded on how the symposium is expected to turn around the region

What makes West Nile a hub for investment?
Contrary to the old narrative that Uganda is a landlocked country, the West Nile region makes Uganda a land-linked country. It is through the West Nile that one can access three neighbouring countries of South Sudan Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. That means that the region is a market place, a trade link to not just the ‘West Nilers’ but also to the neighbours and the market potential in the three neighbouring countries is immense.

In 2013, South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation entered into civil war. Are investors ready to invest in West Nile, a region that borders an insecure country?
In supporting our brothers in the world’s youngest nation South Sudan, there is a lot of opportunity as well. Uganda, having been in the situation that South Sudan is, not so many years ago, makes it best placed to understand why investing in the West Nile is tapping into a virgin market. Businessmen that invested in Uganda just after the liberation war and those that traded between Uganda and Nairobi back then are doing well today. So, any wise investor should look at the situation in South Sudan with prudence.

What is the West Nile Investment symposium all about?
The West Nile Symposium is the first of its kind that will draw entrepreneurs, academia and investors from across the spectrum to the West Nile region with the aim of shining the spotlight on West Nile and the entire Upper Nile Valley of Africa which takes in North Eastern DR Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic.

What exactly do you mean by shining the spotlight on these areas?
The government of Uganda under the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) programme together with Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) and MUNI University organised this symposium to show potential investors the opportunities in West Nile.
Themed: “Transformation of Africa’s Upper Nile Valley through pan African peace building and holistic development,” the West Nile symposium 2019 is aimed at re-branding Africa’s Upper Nile Valley from its dark history and show the vibrant business and development that is happening in the area.

So should we say that this is a government initiative?
Yes, and no. The government has, over the years, been pushing for a private sector-led growth of the economy. Here, Muni University - a government institution has partnered with the private sector in Germany, particularly DEULA, a group of 13 companies and Riela, a well-known tech company in Germany and they came with this initiative. Government then came in to support this initiative having seen the potential that the initiative has for growth of the economy.

What are the potential growth areas of business in West Nile?
First, is the immense potential of the area as a food basket of not just the country but the region and the continent. There are vast chunks of fertile and virgin land in the West Nile. This paired with various water sources from the many rivers in the West Nile makes the agricultural sector a gold mine.
Secondly, there are many natural resources in the region from minerals to oil that was recently discovered.
There is also potential in the hospitality and tourism industries and these are just few of those I can mention besides the trade, ICT and infrastructure development.

Which delegates are expected at the symposium?
The National Organising Committee is in direct talks with the Ambassador of South Sudan in Uganda. As our neighbours, they have a major role to play in the symposium because West Nile is a trade link to South Sudan.
Uganda Investment Authority has contacted their counterparts as well in Juba, in Congo and in Central African Republic to participate. The aim is to have them open investment opportunities to delegates at the conference. We are looking at the symposium as a link for delegates to different governments and local investment authorities.

What opportunities will investors pick from the symposium?
We are working with the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN to showcase their model of youth and women entrepreneurs. We hope delegates will study this model and pick a leaf.
We have also engaged government agencies to push government’s vision for connectivity through infrastructure and ICT.
The symposium will, therefore, expose the region as a potential investment destination, for example, there is cheap internet connectivity in Koboko. That is a clear investment opportunity for someone in the sector targeting the huge market in the DR Congo.
Secondly, factories in Arua have immense potential to tap into the market and the raw material from South Sudan and DR Congo.

Uganda is the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, with over a million refugees, most of them from South Sudan. What is the impact of these refugees on West Nile region?
The impact is in a bigger market for the refugee hosting communities. The impact is what is in Arua right now. The city hosts hundreds of humanitarian organisations and thousands of employees of these organisations.
We cannot run away from helping our brothers in the conflict-ridden neighbouring states so we should instead create opportunities.

Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari (right), the National organising committee chairman of the West Nile Investment symposium, speaks at a press briefing. Photo BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA

How locals can benefit
Everyone, including the resident in a major town like Arua has potential to make money from the simplest investment. For example, I was in Arua recently and we had to drive around the town for hours and make phone calls in order to get space for accommodation. This brought me to think if people could turn their houses in the area into lodging places, they would make money while employing others. There are many houses that belong to people who do not live there but they built. This is just one of the many ways locals can create jobs, besides exploring the potential of setting up tour guide businesses among other things.