The long-awaited day finally came on October 19 when Uganda Airlines launched direct flights from Entebbe International Airport to Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and commerical hub.
The move was aimed at boosting connectivity between Uganda and the continent’s largest economy.
The airline said the inaugural flight had come on the heels of securing approvals from aviation authorities in Uganda and Nigeria.
“Uganda Airlines will operate flights to Nigeria three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays, using its state-of-the-art 258-seat Airbus A330-800neo aircraft,” the airline said shortly before the maiden flight was airborne.
Jenifer Bamuturaki, the airline’s chief executive officer, said the flight schedule had been arranged to provide as much connectivity as possible to other destinations with minimal waiting times.
“Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy while Uganda’s central location on the continent makes it the ideal connection hub between East, West, North and Southern Africa,” Bamuturaki told the press.
“The direct flights will yield significant time savings for our guests who will be terminating their journeys in Uganda and those who may wish to travel onward within our network to Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa, Juba, Bujumbura, Kinshasa, Dubai, Mogadishu or Johannesburg and Mumbai.”
Lagos becomes Uganda Airlines’ 13th destination following the launch of direct flights to Mumbai, India, on Oct. 7.
Shortly after landing in Lagos, the third Nigeria-Uganda business summit was held.
In his opening remarks, Nelson Ocheger, Uganda’s High Commissioner to Nigeria hailed the excellent historic cordial bilateral relations between Uganda and Nigeria which are anchored on the principles of Pan-Africanism and shared values.
He lauded the leadership of president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President of Nigeria for their unwavering commitment to ensure that these excellent bilateral relations continue to progress from strength to strength.
“Ocheger emphasized that the Business Forum is taking place in line with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs policy of implementing Commercial and Economic Diplomacy to achieve socio-economic transformation and development for the mutual benefit of both countries,” a press release from the foreign affairs ministry said.
The diplomat emphasized the importance of Nigerian entrepreneurs investing in areas of value addition in Uganda which is key for strategic partnerships between Nigerian and Ugandan businesses.
The investment areas highlighted by the Ambassador included; “Agribusiness, especially focus on value addition, improvement on the storage facilities through construction of warehouses and silos.”
Ocheger said as far as fisheries was concerned, “Opportunities are available for fish farming and establishment of more fish processing factories on lakes other than Lake Victoria.”
“Uganda possesses abundant potential in areas like timber processing for export, manufacture of high-quality furniture/wood products and various packaging materials,” Ocheger told his hosts.
He also informed them that Uganda was one of the leading exporters on the continent of consumer goods. Exports include coffee, sugar, tea, dairy and milk products, poultry products, fish, and horticultural products.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy with a GDP of $440 billion and a population of almost 250 million, presenting enormous investment opportunities in Uganda.
The forum brought together over 250 trade and investment, policymakers, members of the business communities, trade support institutions, regional and multilateral organisations from Uganda and Nigeria.