Uganda Opens Investment Talks with Top Qatari Business Leaders

Uganda has intensified its drive to attract foreign direct investment after the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Haruna Kasolo Kyeyune, held high-level investment talks with prominent Qatari businessman Sheikh Saleh Muhammad Bin Shajeu and a delegation of leading investors in Doha.

The meeting formed part of the Government of Uganda’s Economic and Commercial Diplomacy strategy championed by H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, which seeks to transform Uganda’s diplomatic engagements into tangible economic partnerships.

Hon. Kasolo was accompanied by Ambassador Dr. Rashid Yahya Ssemuddu, Uganda’s Special Presidential Envoy to the State of Qatar, Ambassador Muhammad Baswale Kezaala, Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of Uganda in Doha, and Mr. Jesse Rubongoya Musinguzi, Personal Assistant to the Minister.

The Ugandan delegation was received at Sheikh Saleh’s Majlis in Doha, where they met a number of Qatari investors to discuss investment opportunities in Uganda.

Hon. Kasolo thanked Sheikh Saleh for the warm hospitality extended to the Ugandan delegation and conveyed President Museveni’s message of condolence to the people of Qatar following the passing of the Father Amir, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. He reaffirmed Uganda’s commitment to strengthening its longstanding friendship with the State of Qatar while encouraging Qatari investors to take advantage of Uganda’s favourable investment climate.

The Minister highlighted Uganda’s enormous potential in agriculture, industrialisation, mining, tourism and value addition, noting that the Government remains committed to facilitating genuine investors through attractive incentives, political stability and abundant natural resources.

Sheikh Saleh, a long-time admirer of President Museveni, recalled his previous meetings with the Ugandan Head of State at State House, Entebbe, and later during President Museveni’s State Visit to Qatar in 2017, meetings that were facilitated by Ambassador Dr. Rashid Yahya Ssemuddu. He expressed his continued admiration for Uganda’s leadership and reaffirmed his strong interest in investing in the country.

“We love Uganda and its people,” Sheikh Saleh said, adding that he and his business partners were particularly interested in opportunities in industrialisation, mining and commercial agriculture.

Drawing from his experience in international business, Sheikh Saleh urged Uganda to strengthen its Economic and Commercial Diplomacy by adopting a more proactive approach similar to that pursued by the United Arab Emirates.

He observed that Dubai’s remarkable economic transformation was achieved because its ambassadors were deployed across the world not merely to perform traditional diplomatic functions but also to actively identify and attract investors from their countries of accreditation.

“Uganda possesses vast natural resources that Dubai never had,” Sheikh Saleh noted. “If Ugandan ambassadors actively seek out investors instead of waiting for them to visit their embassies, Uganda will realise even greater economic benefits and attract substantially more foreign direct investment.”

Hon. Kasolo welcomed the proposal and reiterated Uganda’s commitment to implementing President Museveni’s Economic and Commercial Diplomacy agenda through stronger engagement with international investors. He invited Sheikh Saleh to visit Uganda to explore the country’s vast investment opportunities and assured him of the Government’s full support, including access to suitable agricultural land for large-scale investment projects.

In response, Sheikh Saleh accepted the invitation and pledged to visit Uganda at the earliest opportunity together with a delegation of Qatari business partners to assess investment prospects in industrialisation, mining, agriculture and other strategic sectors.

Ambassador Dr. Rashid Yahya Ssemuddu noted that attracting strategic investors remains one of the key priorities of Uganda’s diplomatic missions abroad and that partnerships with influential business leaders such as Sheikh Saleh are expected to contribute significantly to increasing investment, creating employment opportunities and accelerating Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.

The meeting further demonstrated Uganda’s commitment to leveraging diplomacy as a catalyst for economic growth while strengthening the already warm and expanding relations between Uganda and the State of Qatar.