By Otim Nape
On Thursday, while speaking at the public event where Uganda’s public and private sector institutions which excel in promoting the transformation and long-term development agenda enshrined under Vision 2040 were recognized, the Egyptian Ambassador Monzer Selim registered his great admiration for Gen YK Museveni’s leadership.
Describing him as visionary, farsighted and selfless, Ambassador Monzer Selim implied that Uganda, Africa and humanity at large are lucky to have such a leader.
Speaking in the presence of several Ministers and Vice President Jessica Alupo (who on the H.E’s behalf presided over the Visionaries Awards event 2025), Ambassador Monzer Selim enumerated ways in which bilateral relations between Uganda and Egypt had blossomed (for the benefit of people in the two countries) largely because of Gen Museveni’s experienced leadership, which has enabled him cultivate and maintain excellent personal relationship with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The two countries have related since the early 1960s but Ambassador Monzer Selim observed that the bilateral relations have soared during President Museveni’s reign, especially under El-Sisi’s period on the Egyptian side over the past few years.
He explained that Gen Museveni’s vast experience as one of the continent’s contemporary most senior Pan-African leaders, had enabled excellent bilateral relations to evolve into unprecedentedly strong economic ties between Kampala and Cairo. Even when he has extreme admiration for the person of Gen Museveni, Ambassador Monzer Selim had to be measured in his praises; lest he gets misunderstood for meddling into Uganda’s internal political contestations on the eve of the upcoming general elections slated for 15th January 2025.
DETAILED EXPLANATION:
Careful not to talk much that could cause him to be misunderstood, Ambassador Monzer Selim plunged into detailing the excellent economic outcomes that have resulted from the excellent bilateral relations President Museveni has cultivated.
Speaking at the awards event, that ran under the theme “recognizing and celebrating visionary leadership for continued sustainable inclusive socioeconomic transformation of Uganda,” Ambassador Monzer Selim quantified the impact the 25 Egyptian companies, currently operating in Uganda, have had on job creation, tax revenue collection and generally the realization of Uganda’s socio-economic transformation in line with national objectives enshrined under the NDP4 and Vision 2040.
The 25 companies’ combined total investment exceeds $100m (roughly Shs400bn) and the total volume of work they are involved in doing exceeds $1bn, Ambassador Monzer Selim explained. Of this, $475m is public infrastructure construction-related work being done by Arab Contractors Uganda Ltd and others.
Ambassador Monzer Selim said that the recent visit Gen Museveni made to Egypt, where his counterpart El-Sisi hosted him for days, was proof that the Ugandan leader wants economic and bilateral relations between the two countries amplified. This amplification, Ambassador Monzer Selim observed, has to be advanced through trading activities engendered by the private sector both in Kampala and Cairo. He saluted NPA and the Job Mwesigwa-led Visionaries Advisory Board of Uganda for organizing such an annual event to recognize, motivate and celebrate actors leading in the realisation of Uganda’s Vision 2040.
Besides SAMCO National Construction Company which is constructing Akii Bua Olympic Stadium in Lira, Ambassador Monzer Selim enumerated some of the other Egyptian companies doing big things to facilitate Uganda’s transformation. These include Egyptian Air which currently does 5 Cairo-Entebbe flights a week and Mantrac which is helping in alleviating our country’s energy-related problems by making available high quality and yet affordable transformers to support power supply to sustain economic activities in Uganda.
Besides explaining in greater detail, the works of Arab Contractors, Ambassador Monzer Selim registered his optimism that much more is going to be achieved through the operationalisation and intensification of the work of the Egypt-Uganda Business Council, which seeks to accelerate trade and economic relations between the two countries.
He also spoke about the natural resources-rich Nile Basin-related initiatives, which he said is another level of productive collaboration between Uganda and Egypt. Of this initiative’s $1bn budgetary requirement, Egypt, which is one of the seven countries involved besides Uganda, is already contributing $100m. Ambassador Monzer Selim said this is indicative of the extent to which Egypt is committed to multilateral undertakings including itself, Uganda and River Nile-impacted other African countries.
Ambassador Monzer Selim also commended Arab Contractors, which was one of the awardees the Vice President recognized at the awards event, for deepening Egypt-Uganda bilateral cooperation through registering the following accomplishments:
The leading civil engineering and construction business entity has since 1955 dominated construction-related work in Africa and Middle East. Owned by the Egyptian government, Arab Contractors is into construction of roads, buildings, bridges, tunnels, transport infrastructure, sanitation facilities, industrial facilities, dams and irrigation facilities.
The ISO-certified entity operates in more than 26 countries including Uganda where it was engaged by the GoU to spearhead the construction of Aga Khan University infrastructure in Kampala’s Nakawa Division, Century Bottling Company’s Pet Line facilities at the Namanve Industrial Park, the specialized maternal & neonatal healthcare unit facilities at Mulago, and WB-funded road construction projects in Pallisa and Kumi in Eastern Uganda.
Arab Contractors also did 41km Masaka-Bukakata road, 44kms Pallisa-Kamonkoli Road and 67kms Tirinyi-Pallisa-Kumi Road. Yet that isn’t all. Their state-of-the-art yard where the company’s carpentry, metal and mechanical workshops are situated, has greatly impacted job creation in Wakiso district’s Kira Township.
This is where the company’s large warehouse and ready concrete mixing facility is located as well. They also support other players in the construction industry through selling to them ready concrete besides enabling knowledge and technology transfer; all of which have greatly engendered growth of Uganda’s own construction industry. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
