Cashing in on Dubai expo

An aerial vew of Dubai city. Pineapple, ginger, beans and avocado are on the demand list for UAE.
PHOTO/COURTESY

What you need to know:

Uganda is one of the 120 countries with dedicated pavilions even though according to the Uganda Export Promotions Board, no funds have been secured to facilitate participation which includes mobilising public and private sector players.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the biggest export destinations for Uganda at $1.84 billion in 2020 ahead of the entire Comesa region at $1.27 billion in the same period. Seeing that most of these exports are minerals like Gold and fish, spaces not for many players, the potential for more export in the food sector especially agricultural products is inexhaustible. Uganda’s fruits and vegetables can find demand in this market that is just five hours away via airfreight. There have been several private sector led trade expos organised before between UAE and Uganda but they dwindle in significance and scope compared to the upcoming Dubai World Expo where if Uganda harnessed the opportunity, the dividends are beyond the bilateral trade with UAE.

Uganda has perhaps not got many “on the platter” invitations with a dedicated pavilion as is the case with the Dubai World Expo 2000. The expo that was 10 years in the making suffered serious setback just months from being opened when the world was virtually brought to a halt by the Covid-19 pandemic that curtailed the life and blood of such events as expos through travel restrictions.

The expo kept its “2020” identity but with a few months to October, the organisers are working day and night to pull off a good Expo. Uganda is one of the 120 countries with dedicated pavilions even though according to the Uganda Export Promotions Board, no funds have been secured to facilitate participation which includes mobilising public and private sector players.

“Activities covered under the Expo programme are on track but we have not yet secured funding, “ according to John Lwere, the lead officer in charge of the expo at the Uganda Export Promotion Board. The UEPB is the lead government agency charged with organising and mobilising Ugandan participation at the Dubai Expo 2020.

Opportunities

“We are expecting 40 million people across six months. It is our opportunity to engage 120 countries in one shot in one place over six months,” argues Francis Ntangaaza, Dubai expo coordinator.

He continues, “We are grappling with the market for milk, but West Africa is semi arid, they import milk from France. We can take advantage of that market. But because we cannot fly to West Africa and they are participating in the expo, let us engage them there with their government delegations,” he advises.

The Dubai expo has a 25 million visitor target with the the government of the United Arab Emirates spending $6.8 billion to organise the expo.

According to Sumathi Ramanathan, Vice President market strategy Dubai Expo, “whether you are a business man looking for new opportunities to engage with a broader audience and connect with thousands of businesses, besides the biggest companies in the world its a fantastic opportunity to come.”

“The Middle East is a net importer of food, why doesn’t our minister lead a delegation to engage them?” Ntangaaza Dubai Expo Coordinator wonders.

Previous private sector-led expos between the two countries have yielded little majorly lacking the muscle of government but might a government-led engagement make a difference this time?

From pineapple to ginger, beans and other cereals and such things as Avocado are all on the demand list for UAE and the rest of the region. Food exports to this part of the world come from as far as Brazil and Mexico which are many hours away from the market compared with the five hours from Entebbe.

In making the business case for the Dubai Expo, Sumathi Ramanathan says, “The expo will show case technology, whether in manufacturing, travel and hospitality, information technology, artificial intelligence, blockchain, tourism name it.  You will engage with like-minded people and make business connections.”

The Uganda Export Promotion Board shows that Uganda receives 14,000 visitors from the UAE but not all these are real tourists. The expo offers the likes of Uganda Tourism Board a one-stop, six-month marketing opportunity to target not only the Arab World but also the rest of the world. The additional interest in UAE is that Uganda Airlines was granted permission to land in Dubai and just awaiting a confirmation date for the start likely before the Dubai expo opens its doors on October 1.

One of the overriding challenges the expo organisers face is the lingering Covid-19 pandemic which is testing their resolve.

“The health of everybody working and visiting the expo is our top priority. All our staff have been vaccinated and we have installed thermo cameras to check the temperatures of all those entering the expo site,” Sumathi Ramanathan explains. “Visitors are required to wear a face mask at all times and social distancing of at least two metres will be implemented. Our common areas will be regularly cleaned and sanitised. Appropriate and qualified medical staff will be available at all times to handle any arising medical issues,” Ramanathan says.

It is not clear whether the existing protocols for Covid-19 prevention and management will be the same in October as they are today. But if you were flying to Dubai today, you have to do a Covid-19 PCR-test 72 hours before you board the plane and would be required to take another test before you live the airport which though is paid for by the UAE government. You then leave behind information to make sure you are traceable in the event of getting ill.

For Ntangaaza, the opportunities are so many on the agricultural product area especially food seeing that UAE imports almost all its food but for the expo there is more.

“For ICT, we can engage Facebook, Google, all in the US pavilion and we speak BPO (business Process Outsoursing) services to them; we speak the best English in the region,” says Ntangaaza.

Business process outsourcing entails remotely working for a company say in the US even while here in Uganda for example call centres among others.

So with Uganda still focused on government transition, other countries in the expo are already working on their pavilions while there is no activity on the Ugandan pavilion.

“Our private sector needs to be trained on how to package and sell to the export market!” Ntangaaza says. 

He says

Market

We are grappling with the market for milk, but West Africa is semi arid, they import milk from France. We can take advantage of that market. But because we cannot fly to West Africa and they are participating in the expo, let us engage them there with their government delegations,’’ Mr Francis Ntangaaza, Dubai expo coordinator.