The Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs, Hon Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja flagged-off the export of military consignments to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea at Entebbe Air base.
The consignment included 5,400 Cartons of Armed Forces Uniforms and accessories manufactured by Southern Range Nyanza Ltd (Nytil), Jinja-Uganda.
Hon. Ssempijja who represented His Excellence Yoweri Museveni thanked the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for choosing to trade with Uganda. “On behalf of His Excellency the President, I wish to specifically thank His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mangue, the Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea who has been behind this strategic effort to link our brotherly countries in the sphere of trade and investments,” Hon. Ssempijja said.
According to Minister Ssempijja, Uganda and Equatorial Guinea have been cooperating in different areas including the Defence and Security sector. He added that the scope of the cooperation has expanded to include trade which will result into increased revenue for the socio-economic development and mutual benefit of the African People.
Hon. Ssempijja encouraged other sectors to borrow a leaf from Nytil textile by exploiting available market opportunities in the region and far so that together as a country, they are able to build a resilient economy.
The Corporates Affairs Director of Nytil, Mr. Richard Mubiru who spoke on behalf of the general manager, Mr. Vinay Kumar observed that this is the first time in its history where Uganda is exporting Armed Forces Uniforms outside East Africa, to Equatorial Guinea under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“Nytil credits this success to the President of Uganda’s commitment to growing the manufacturing sector where the Government of Uganda has promoted initiatives like Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) Policy and reservations to promote investment and trade,” said Mr. Mubiru.