The President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, is set to visit Uganda, ChimpReports has learned.
Asked to confirm the trip, the Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, Vincent Bagiire, replied on Sunday, “Yes, it is true.”
Raisi is expected in Uganda on Wednesday, July 12.
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Uganda and other African countries in 2010.
The visits will involve bilateral meetings with the presidents of Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, as well as joint sessions with high-ranking delegations from host countries, during which a series of cooperation agreements will be signed.
President Raisi will also engage in meetings with traders, business representatives, and economic officials from Iran and the host countries.
Aligned with the Iranian government’s policy of economic multilateralism, the visits aim to enhance Iran’s presence in the $600-billion African economy.
Inside trip
The planning for Raisi’s trip to Uganda started on July 6, 2022, with Dr. Mahdi Safari, the Deputy Foreign Minister In Charge of Economic Diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, meeting President Museveni at State House, Entebbe.
During the meeting, President Museveni welcomed the partnership by the Government of Iran to support Uganda, especially in the health sector, and promised to work with them.
“For general pharmaceuticals, we are ready to work with you in joint ventures for any medicine. The same with the vaccine,” Museveni said, adding that it will help Uganda develop her pathogenic industry, which offers huge economic opportunities in therapeutics, diagnostics, and vaccines.”
“We are already working on all those vaccines here, but it will be good to work with you,” Museveni noted.
On trade, the President said Uganda has a lot of production of goods, including fresh products, which Iran might be interested in, and the two countries can exchange them in barter trade without going through the dollar.
During the meeting, both sides reiterated the necessity of increased economic, political, and international cooperation between the two countries.
It was also agreed that Iran would export medicine and medical equipment, nanotechnological, biotechnological, IT, and orthopaedic equipment to Uganda.
The two countries also agreed to cooperate in the areas of banking, oil and gas, and the production of electric motorcycles and tractors in Uganda.
Iran also agreed to dispatch a medical research group to Uganda to examine cooperation on cattle diseases.
At the same meeting, Dr. Safari informed Museveni that Uganda will be among the East African countries that the Iranian President, Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati Raisi, would visit in Africa in the near future.
“We are ready to cooperate with East African countries in trade and other developmental initiatives,” Safari told Museveni, who welcomed Raisi’s visit, saying the two countries enjoy good working relations.
“It will be our honour to welcome H.E Raisi and receive him here. I have been to Iran myself about four times, and I have welcomed several Presidents of Iran here. So H.E. Raisi will be very welcome,” Museveni said.
Museveni was referring to Raisi’s predecessors, Ahmadinejad, Dr. Mohammad Khatami and Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who have visited Uganda over the past three decades.
Dr. Safari was accompanied by Mr. Mohammad Soleymani, the Assistant Director-General for Africa, H.E. Mehdi Salehi, the Iranian Ambassador to Uganda; the Economic Director, Embassy of Iran, Akbar Khorrami; and Mr. Seyed Mohammad Aghamiri.
Since the beginning of his Presidency, Raisi, whose country continues to grapple with U.S. sanctions, has called for increasing cooperation with Africa and recognised its material and manpower capabilities.