The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, has urged Finnish companies to channel investments into coffee value addition, saying this is the surest way to help Uganda and other African producers tap into the lucrative global coffee market.
Meeting with Members of the Commerce Committee of the Parliament of Finland, Tayebwa highlighted the imbalance in global coffee earnings, noting that coffee producing countries receive only a fraction of the industry’s vast revenues.
“I want to encourage companies from Finland to come and add value to Ugandan coffee; Africa’s largest coffee exporter,” Tayebwa said.
Citing recent global trade estimates, Tayebwa revealed that the coffee industry generates about US$452 billion annually. Yet of that amount, only US$25 billion goes to producing countries, and Africa collectively earns a mere US$3 billion.
“It means that all the coffee produced here, in Brazil, Vietnam and elsewhere, brings only US$25 billion to producers, while countries that do not grow even one coffee tree take the lion’s share,” Tayebwa said, calling the trend a clear case of economic injustice.
The Deputy Speaker said he is using his continental role as the President of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Parliamentary Assembly and Co-President of the OACPS–European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly, to push for fairer trade terms, including tax reductions on coffee exported to the EU.
“I challenged European leaders during our last meeting. I told them that why should you impose heavy levies on coffee from Uganda, where it is produced, and yet waive taxes on coffee in Europe?” he said.
Tayebwa shared his surprise from a recent trip to Milan, Italy, where he found a kilogramme of coffee imported from Uganda being sold at €45, far above the local retail price of roughly €3.
On their part, the visiting Finnish lawmakers applauded Uganda’s refugee friendly policies and its spirit of hospitality, saying the country has become a global model in humanitarian response.
“We are very impressed with the work you do on refugees. You offset a big burden,” said Vilhelm Junnila, Chairperson of Finland’s Committee on Commerce.
“We are equally impressed with the friendly relationship between our countries, for I know we import coffee from Uganda and export paper materials in return,” he added.
Junnila led a seven-member delegation that has been in Uganda for a week, benchmarking on parliamentary best practices. They were accompanied by representatives from Finn Church Aid, a Finnish humanitarian organization.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
