Uganda Turns to Japan for Border Upgrades, Agro-processing Investment

August 12, 2026 in Business, Trade & Industry by Editor

Uganda is seeking Japanese support to expand Busia and Malaba border posts while attracting investment into agro-processing and higher-value exports.

 

Uganda is seeking Japanese support to expand infrastructure at its two busiest land borders with Kenya, while pitching Japanese investors on opportunities in agro-processing and other sectors as the country seeks to capture more value from its exports.

Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Minister Sanjay Tanna made the appeal August12, during talks with Japan’s Ambassador to Uganda, Sasayama Takuya, in Kampala, arguing that congestion at the Busia and Malaba One Stop Border Posts is increasingly becoming a constraint on regional trade.

Tanna asked the Japanese government, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to consider supporting the expansion of the two border facilities, including improvements to connecting roads.

The request comes as rising traffic along the Northern Corridor has produced frequent truck queues at the borders, increasing the time and cost of moving goods between Uganda, Kenya and the wider East African market.

“There is a need to upgrade the Busia and Malaba OSBPs to accommodate the increased trade volumes along the Northern Corridor,” Tanna said, according to the ministry.

For Uganda, improving the two gateways is about expanding the physical capacity of a trade corridor on which much of the country’s international commerce depends.

The minister also used the meeting to make a broader pitch for Japanese investment in processing agricultural commodities, highlighting pineapples, avocados, milk, essential oils, organic honey and shea butter as areas where Uganda wants to move up the value chain.

He also identified sugar, milk, meat and eggs as products for which Uganda is seeking greater market access.

The emphasis on processing reflects Uganda’s longstanding challenge of increasing export earnings without simply increasing the volume of unprocessed agricultural commodities leaving the country.

Tanna particularly pointed to organic honey production in northern Uganda, saying the country has significant supplies that remain underutilised because of inadequate processing capacity and market access.

The opportunity for Japanese investors, he suggested, lies not simply in buying Ugandan commodities but in establishing processing capacity that can turn them into products for higher-value food, health and industrial markets.

The Japanese side highlighted agriculture as another area for cooperation, with Ambassador Sasayama pointing to the NERICA upland rice project and machinery innovations for smallholder farmers as potential areas for deeper collaboration.

The discussions also produced a more immediate investment opportunity.

Sasayama told Tanna that a Japanese business and policy mission is scheduled to visit Uganda in January 2027 to examine investment and business opportunities.

About 30 Japanese companies have already registered for the mission, according to the ministry.

Tanna asked the ambassador to provide details of the participating companies and their sectors so that Uganda can prepare targeted business-to-business matchmaking rather than rely on a general investment-promotion exercise.

That could make the January mission more consequential if Ugandan agencies and businesses are able to align specific projects with Japanese investors before they arrive.

Tourism, technology transfer and infrastructure also featured in the discussions, with Tanna urging Japanese investors to look beyond Kenya when assessing opportunities in the region.

He also sought Japanese expertise in science, technology and innovation to improve the utilisation of Uganda’s existing infrastructure.

The two countries are also looking towards the International Horticultural Expo 2027 in Yokohama, where Uganda will have a dedicated national day on September 8.

The six-month expo, running from March 19 to September 26, 2027, is expected to provide another platform for Uganda to showcase its agricultural and investment opportunities.