President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has revealed that the Islamic Republic of Iran motivated him to build an oil refinery.
“We have some little oil here which we discovered a few years ago. I had some people discouraging us not to build an oil refinery saying it’s not profitable, how many countries continue to have refineries if they were not profitable,” he stated while meeting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
“When I visited Iran, I was informed that the Islamic country had nine oil refineries and in advanced stages of constructing more. So, when I came back, I put my foot down… So, you can see the areas of complementarity and I would urge the ministers to take this matter seriously.”
Uganda is currently looking for a potential investor to finance the country’s oil refinery project.
Uganda projects to produce its first oil by 2025.
Museveni assured Raisi of Uganda’s readiness to continue the cooperation and the good relations that have existed since the Islamic revolution.
“We are always ready to cooperate with Iran and this area of cooperation is straight,” President Museveni said, adding that the cooperation is due to Iran’s Anti-imperialism position, a reason he has visited Iran many times and most of the Presidents of Iran have in the past visited Uganda.
President Museveni told his Iranian counterpart and his delegation that there is nothing Uganda cannot produce because of her good climate.
He mentioned items especially food; bananas, maize, coffee, cocoa and fish adding that the problem has always been access to markets and Iran’s cooperation comes in handy.
“We can do a lot of trade together. Iran has got experiences which we don’t have,” H.E Museveni added.