By Daniel Mwesigwa

A monthly report for the month of December authored by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development shows that Uganda’s Export receipts increased by 12.4% (Shs 127,251,040,000) from USD 288.57 million in October 2021 to USD 324.45 million in November 2021, largely due to increased export earnings from sugar and coffee.

According to the report, increased earnings from coffee followed higher export volumes and global coffee prices whereas higher receipts from sugar were largely on account of increased export volumes.

The increase in global coffee prices was partly due to lower supply of coffee as a result of weather-related conditions in Brazil and shortage of shipping containers.

Other export commodities included Cotton, Tobacco, beans, flowers and maize.

Compared to the same month last year, export receipts declined by 22.9% from USD 420.58 million to USD 324.45 million in November 2021.

This decline in exports was mainly attributed to the current halt in gold exports which have been affected by the delay in the approval of the mining amendment bill 2021.

The East African Community (EAC) took the largest share of Uganda‘s exports (42.2%) during the month of November 2021. It was followed by the Rest of Africa (24.2%) and the European Union (20.6%).

At a regional level, the value of exports to the EAC increased from USD 110.86 million in November 2020 to USD 136.98 million in November 2021.