South Africa's Zuma to visit Uganda with oil investors

Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:38pm GMT

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* South Africa has strong business ties with Uganda

* Uganda keen for investors in oil, mining sectors

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA, Mar 17 (Reuters) - South Africa President Jacob Zuma will visit Uganda on March 25 with a business delegation to scout for investment opportunities in the country's budding oil sector, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Uganda has seen a sudden surge in foreign investor interest in the country's economy, stoked by the discovery in 2006 of commercial hydrocarbon deposits in the Albertine Graben that straddles its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Maggie Kigozi, the executive director of the state-run Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), told a news conference that South Africa had an advanced mining and petroleum industry with immense potential as a source of investors for Uganda.

"Even before oil, South Africa has been an excellent source of investment for Uganda, MTN is the best example," she said, refering to the South African mobile phone group.

"We think the great success we've had in sectors like telecommunications and retail with South African investors can now be extended to oil," she said. Continued...

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