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In August 2024, the CEO East Africa Magazine, perhaps Uganda’s most respected online business news publication, published its 100 Most Trusted and Respected Companies 2024 and 100 Leading and Most Admired CEOs 2024 rankings.
The rankings were developed after a multistage online survey amongst its readers and other business leaders. The winning companies and business leaders were recognised for outstanding leadership in their respective categories.
Several members of the French Chamber of Commerce, Uganda (FCCU), such as TotalEnergies, CFAO Mobility Uganda, Kampala Sheraton, The Motorcenter East Africa, Carrefour Uganda, KLM Airlines, Nice House of Plastics, Speke Group of Hotels and Hima Cement were prominently featured on the list of the 100 Most Trusted and Respected Companies 2024.
The 100 Leading and Most Admired CEOs 2024 list also featured several of our member CEOs, such as Thomas Pelletier, the Managing Director of CFAO Mobility Uganda and also the FCCU President, and Jean-Philippe Bittencourt, the General Manager of Sheraton Kampala Hotel and the Vice President of FCCU. Joseph Ssemuwemba, the CEO of The Motorcenter East Africa, and Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia, the CEO of Speke Group of Hotels, were also featured.
Congratulations to all our members for this outstanding and exemplary leadership in your respective sectors.
This great news comes on the heels of the formal launch of the French Chamber of Commerce, Uganda (FCCU), a platform which aims to create deeper and stronger bilateral economic relations between our two countries by promoting partnerships between French and Ugandan companies.
Although the FCCU was formally established in July 2024, French and Ugandan companies have had a slightly longer history of collaboration under the French Business Club (Club d’Affaires de Kampala—CAK), created in 2017. The FCCU is a successor organisation to the CAK.
It is also important to note that France was the first country in the European Union to set up a Chamber of Commerce in Uganda. This has been augmented by triple growth in the number of French companies operating in Uganda over a decade.
Today, the FCCU has over 70 members, half Ugandan companies.
All these developments point to a new chapter in Franco-Uganda relations.
Although France opened its embassy in Uganda right after its 1962 independence and Uganda opened its embassy in Paris in 1969, Franco-Uganda relations were lukewarm⏤ between 2010 and 2020; total Ugandan imports from France stood at USD541.42 million, while Ugandan exports to France were only USD94.52 million. It was not until after 2013 when our President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni participated in the “Elysée Summit on Peace and Security in Africa” that Franco-Ugandan relations were given a new lease of life.
President Museveni’s visit was followed by that of Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs’ visit to Paris in May 2014.
Franck Riester, the French Minister Delegate for Trade and Attractiveness, visited Uganda in 2021 and was received by President Museveni. He also met the French and Ugandan business communities.
Important to note as well is that the French Development Agency (AFD)- the French government-owned development lender, has been present in Uganda since 1993 and has committed almost a billion euros to Uganda since 1998, including 400 million between 2018 and 2020. An AFD office was opened in Uganda in 2009. Key to note as well is that France is Europe’s fourth-largest bilateral donor and the country’s sixth-largest bilateral donor.
The economic ties between the two countries received a significant boost from the 2012 acquisition of a 33.3% interest in Uganda’s oil and gas in the Albert Graaben. This interest was increased to 64% in 2020 when TotalEnergies E&P acquired Tullow Oil’s 33.3334% stake in the project. TotalEnergies has, however, been present in Uganda since 1955 through its Marketing and Services affiliate, TotalEnergies Marketing Uganda Ltd.
The February 2022 announcement of the Final Investment Decision (FID) for Uganda’s oil and gas Projects by TotalEnergies, CNOOC Uganda Limited, the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) has unlocked a new chapter in the Franco-Uganda relations.
A study commissioned by the French Foreign Trade Advisors in Uganda (CCEF) and the Economic Department of the Embassy of France revealed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by French companies in Uganda reached USD 1.6 billion in 2023, representing 53% of Uganda’s FDI inflows that year, making France, Uganda’s biggest foreign investor. According to the World Investment Report by the UN Trade and Development, released on June 20, 2024, showed that Uganda in 2023 attracted a substantial USD2.886 billion.
According to the CCEF in Uganda, as of the end of 2023, forty (40) French companies had been directly established in Uganda—a more than fourfold growth compared to the nine (9) companies in 2010.
Needless to say, an increase in FDI has meant more jobs, more skills transfers and more taxes paid. Indeed, according to the study, French companies directly employed nearly 3,000 Ugandans (3 times more than in 2010), representing, on average, 95% of their workforce. On average, 974 employees were women, constituting 33% of the workforce.
French companies offered their employees more than 46,000 hours of cumulative training in skills transfer in 2023.
Over the next three years, this FDI is expected to more than double to over USD4 billion. The impact created by this inflow of foreign direct investment is also expected to grow as much, signalling a new dawn in Franco-Uganda relations.
“This is a momentous time for anyone looking to engage in business on either side. The launch of the FCCU has opened up a world of opportunities, and becoming a member will undoubtedly help accelerate this potential.
I would like to congratulate H.E. Xavier Sticker, the Ambassador of France to Uganda, and Thomas Pelletier, our first FCCU President, for spearheading this noble cause.
I would also like to congratulate our members who emerged winners in CEO East Africa Magazine’s 100 Most Trusted and Respected Companies 2024 and 100 Leading and Most Admired CEOs 2024 rankings⏤ keep leading the way.