UGANDA – Uganda has reported a 371% jump in revenue from maize exported in the November-December period of 2022 largely benefitting from a bumper harvest and heightened demand from neighboring countries.

According to the Ministry of Finance’s Performance of the Economy Monthly Report for January 2023 cited by Business Focus, revenues from maize exports increased from US$4.34M to US$ 20.48M between November and December.

The impressive rise in revenue resulted in exports rising to US$ 371.81M (Shs1.38 trillion) from USD 335.77 M in the same period last year.

The growth percentage earnings were however lower compared to December 2021, which increased from   US$ 323.96M to US$ 371.81M representing a 15.1% growth, according to the report.

In addition, the report pointed out that there was a 7.2% decline in the value of coffee export earnings from USD 64.14 million in November 2022 to USD 59.54 million in December 2022.

The decline was attributed to lower export volumes as a result of dry weather conditions from April to August 2022 in most parts of the country’s coffee-producing regions, which led to lower yields.

Major Export Destinations

The Eat Africa Community (EAC) was the major destination for Uganda’s exports accounting for USD 227.08 million (61.1%) of the total exports during the month, said the report.

In particular, Kenya (USD 71.19 million), D.R.C. (USD 57.01 million), and South Sudan (USD 50.98 million) received 78.9% of the total exports to the EAC.

The European Union was the second major destination for the country’s exports accounting for 15.3%, followed by the Middle East at 6.9%.

“At the country-specific level, 45.8% of the exports to the EU went to Italy and 17.5% to Germany. It is worth noting that in December 2022, Italy maintained the highest market share for Uganda’s coffee, followed by Sudan and Germany,” it stated.

Meanwhile, on the merchandise trade balance, it was reported that the deficit narrowed by 1.6% to USD 294.9 million in December 2022 from USD 299.8 million the previous month compared to 0.4%   in the same month 2021.

The deficit variance was attributed to an increase in export receipts that more than offset the growth in the import bill during the month.

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