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Uganda Airlines hosts Uganda-Zimbabwe Trade Business Summit

October 16, 2024

By Wallace Mawire

  After its inaugural maiden flight launch to Harare from Entebbe in Uganda on 25 September,2024, Uganda Airlines hosted the Uganda-Zimbabwe Trade and Business Summit  in Harare, Zimbabwe on 26 September,2024 to celebrate the launch of the new route.

  According to a Uganda  Airlines spokesperson, the summit provided a unique platform for exploring investment opportunities, trade prospects and potential partnerships between Uganda and Zimbabwe, particularly in key sectors such as tourism, manufacturing, agro-processing, finance and ICTs, just to mention a few.

  The summit was also held in collaboration with the Uganda High Commission in Zimbabwe which was represented by Mr Paul Amoru, Uganda High Commissioner to Zimbabwe.

  The summit also included expert panel discussions, keynote addresses and exhibitions, providing an ideal environment for networking with industry leaders, government officials and entrepreneurs, just to mention a few.

 Jennifer Bamuturaki, CEO of Uganda Airlines said at the summit it was a pleasure to add Zambia and Zimbabwe to their expanding route network.

  ‘Even before we commenced commercial services as an airline back in August 2019, these two destinations had always been in our plan and we would have been here much earlier, were it not for the Covid-19 disruptions to the global economy,’she said.

  She added that the route is important because the part of Africa tends to be in a sort of rain shadow when it comes to connections with countries outside the SADC region, which has resulted in service gaps, part of which the airline is addressing now.

 She added that connectivity gaps have two effects which include making air transport expensive, even when the distances involved are relatively short.

 She added that they also make journeys longer because travellers are forced to make their journeys through intermediate airports, with inefficient connections to their final destinations.

  Bamuturaki said that Lusaka and Harare are joining a well-optimised route network and from their  hub in Entebbe, travellers will have a choice of onward connections to Nairobi, Bujumbura, Juba, Mogadishu, Dubai, Mumbai, Abuja, Lagos and soon, London among others.

  She said that the service expands their coverage of Southern Africa, where they  already operate daily service to Johannesburg.

  ‘We hope that sooner than later, we shall be able to increase our frequency from the current four flights a week, to daily and thereafter, to double daily,’she said.

 She said that the airline feels privileged to be contributing to improved connectivity between the   countries and the rest of Africa, creating more choice and value for  customers.

 Board Chair of  Uganda Airlines, Ms Priscilla Mirembe Serukka, said at the summit that Thank you for receiving us with such a warm welcome to Zimbabwe it is the first time in 23 years that it will be possible to fly directly between Zimbabwe and Uganda.

  ‘It also brings us closer to the conclusion of our initial route development plan, which is now only three destinations away,’ she said.

 Serukka said that since they entered the market five years ago, they  had added 12 unique city pairs that were not previously served by a direct flight from Uganda.

 ‘Until now, it was not unusual for a journey that should ideally take just over two hours to last as much as 12 hours. This is what we are out to change with this service,’she said.

  She also said that wherever they   have introduced services, their flights have significantly reduced travel times and costs.

 She added that just two weeks ago, they   launched services between Entebbe and Abuja.

She said that the single action removed almost  $1000 off the price of an economy class ticket between Entebbe and Abuja.

 ‘We are sure this service will replicate the same,’ she said.

Serukka added that it illustrates   the connectivity crisis afflicting Africa today and its social and economic cost.

 She said that people go through a lot of pain and expense to cover relatively short distances.

 She added that this is even more pronounced if one tries to travel across Africa using surface transport which she said is  still critically short of road and rail connections.

 The summit was attended by the Zimbabwe and Uganda business community, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) representative, private sector, Zimbabwe Investment Development Authority (ZIDA),Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ),Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ),Zimtrade, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI),representatives of the business community in Zimbabwe and Uganda.

  According to Uganda High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Mr Paul Amoru, the theme of the summit was:‘Boosting Trade and Investment Opportunities between Zimbabwe and Uganda.’

 Mr Amoru said at the summit that there were vast opportunities to explore for business between the two countries which included mining, mineral beneficiation, tourism, manufacturing, agriculture and value chain markets development, just to mention a few.

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