President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday said Uganda wants to curb its borrowing and boost exports in sectors such as meat and dairy as the country lifts restrictions triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Uganda’s trade push follows several years of reduced Chinese lending to the continent and programmes designed to offer relief to indebted countries as they recover from COVID 19-induced slumps start to expire.

Museveni said “Uganda can do much better without borrowing in my opinion. Especially borrowing for budget support, the balance of payments support.’’

He said he wanted to expand the country’s meat, leather and dairy trade and add value to other agricultural exports such as coffee, which has long been one of Uganda’s main foreign exchange earners.

“We don’t import milk, we don’t import beef, and we have now built a leather industry for the shoes.

“In 2009, Uganda produced nearly 700 million litres of milk and there was only one other major dairy company apart from the state-owned Dairy Corporation.

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“Now, thanks to improved feed, training and investment in 14 private dairy companies, the Ugandan Dairy Development Authority says the country produced 2.81 billion litres in 2021.’’

Odrek Rwabwogo, Museveni’s son-in-law, a businessman and senior presidential adviser, said Uganda “only consumes about 800 million litres and is looking for markets for the excess”.