Museveni Asks EU to Help Africa Process Raw Materials and Create Jobs

What the report says

President Yoweri Museveni has called on European countries to back African efforts to process raw materials locally, arguing that value addition could create jobs, raise export earnings and deepen trade between Africa and Europe. According to Nile Post, he made the remarks on Wednesday at State House Entebbe after receiving European Union ambassadors led by the bloc’s envoy to Uganda, Jan Sadek, for a Partnership Dialogue.

Museveni said African economies should move away from exporting unprocessed commodities and instead build industries that can transform natural resources into finished products with higher value on international markets. He also suggested that stronger African earnings would expand demand for European goods, framing the relationship as one of mutual benefit rather than dependency.

The discussions reportedly also covered support for Uganda’s Parish Development Model, irrigation, wetland protection and access to affordable electricity for manufacturing. Museveni described affordable power as important for industrial growth and for expanding domestic processing capacity. He also linked broader African prosperity to better cooperation with Europe, while stressing respect for sovereignty.

The meeting was attended by ministers and senior officials, including Kahinda Otafiire, Adonia Ayebare, Frank Tumwebaze and Norbert Mao. In general, the comments fit a long-running policy push across Africa for industrialisation and more local value addition, though Nile Post’s report focused on Museveni’s specific appeal to the EU diplomats.