Uganda should prioritize agriculture and tourism over oil as the foundation of its long-term economic growth, Malaysia’s Honorary Consul in Uganda, Habib Kagimu, has said, urging Ugandans to focus on sectors that make the most of the country’s natural advantages.
“One of the oldest professions in the world is providing food and water,” Kagimu said.
“So agriculture is a wonderful sector and Uganda is blessed with an extraordinary amount of water and great sunshine,” he added.
The wealthy businessman with deep ties in the Arab world spoke to ChimpReports‘ Managing Editor Giles Muhame on the sidelines of the Uganda-UAE Business Forum in Kampala earlier this week.
“Once you have agriculture and you continue being in agriculture, you can’t be beaten because we all need to eat,” he said.
Agriculture contributes about 24.7 percent of Uganda’s GDP and employs nearly 66 percent of the workforce, underscoring its central role in the economy.
He cautioned that Uganda should not allow the discovery of oil estimated at 1.4 billion barrels of recoverable reserves to distract it from investing in agriculture, which he described as the backbone of any sustainable economy.
“Ugandans should not be cheated by oil, which they have been blessed with, and forget about agriculture,” Kagimu said.
Between 2026 and 2050, Uganda is expected to earn USD 25–62 billion in oil revenues, depending on production, prices, and the pace of the global energy transition if annual earnings peak at USD 2.5 billion.
The envoy also highlighted tourism as another underexploited area, noting Uganda’s rich biodiversity and unique attractions such as mountain gorillas.
“There is no limit to how many tourists you can have in Uganda because you have extraordinary attractions,” he said. “Uganda can easily welcome 10 to 15 million tourists every year. That’s a lot of money.”
Tourism currently contributes around 3.6 percent of GDP, but Kagimu said there is enormous untapped potential.
Comparison
Drawing comparisons with Dubai, Kagimu noted that despite its lack of natural attractions, the emirate draws millions of tourists annually.
“A country like Dubai, which has nothing to offer, has over 15 million tourists every year. But going to Dubai to see what? To see glass buildings?” he said. “Here you have everything that a tourist wants.”
Beyond agriculture and tourism, Kagimu said Uganda should deepen its focus on science and technology to drive economic transformation, pointing to Malaysia’s experience as a model.
“Technology is everything,” he said. “Malaysia earns more than 200 billion dollars in technology annually, and that’s what has helped Malaysia’s economy jump to a 500 billion dollar economy because they are very advanced in technology.”
He commended Uganda’s ongoing emphasis on science education, saying it could help position the country for future growth.
“As Uganda is encouraging learning in science, technology is a very, very good market,” he said. “We now have a lot of young men who have studied IT, many of them trained in Malaysia.”
Kagimu said Uganda’s combination of natural wealth, youthful population, and improving technological capacity gives it the potential to achieve rapid and inclusive economic growth.
In the last fiscal year, the economy expanded by 6.1 percent, with agriculture alone growing 5.4 percent, highlighting the sector’s importance in driving prosperity provided Uganda remains grounded in its strengths.
His support to President Museveni
President Museveni has made mistakes like any human being,” Kagimu, 72 said in an exclusive interview with ChimpReports on the sielines of the Uganda-UAE Business Forum in Kampala last week.
“Before he became president of Uganda, he was never president of any other country. So he had to learn on the job.” Kagimu has Museveni, who came to power in 1986 after a five-year guerrilla war, is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
His government has faced criticism from opposition groups and rights organisations over democratic freedoms and the length of his rule.
Kagimu, however, said Museveni’s leadership had brought more gains than losses.
“If you look at Museveni’s pluses and minuses, which is more, it is much more the pluses,” he said.
“He’s got enough gift from God. He’s a very capable man, highly capable.”
Kagimu cited Museveni’s record in stabilising Uganda after years of conflict, including fighting insurgencies led by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), as well as his regional security role in countries such as Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Who would have mastered that better than Museveni?” Kagimu said.
“He has gone out of organizing Uganda and controlling security here and providing security for other countries like Somalia, like trying to help in the DRC.”
Kagimu compared Uganda’s trajectory under Museveni to post-Gaddafi Libya, saying Uganda’s stability was a result of consistent leadership.
“Look at Libya, 15 years after Gaddafi was overthrown. They thought they had made a revolution. Look what it is. But look at us. We didn’t have the same resources as Libya,” he said.
Despite widespread debate over succession and governance, Kagimu expressed confidence in Museveni’s ability to manage Uganda’s resources.
“Why should he fail now with all these experiences and all the ministers he has had?” he asked. “Why can’t he put up a very good government that can look after our resources?”
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