January 13, 2025. Despite Algeria’s rising demand for dairy products and efforts to redirect a $700 million annual milk import budget toward Uganda, local milk companies failed to capitalize on the lucrative opportunity. The revelation came during a high-level meeting between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Algerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Youcef Cherfa in Kampala on January 11, 2025.
Minister Cherfa conveyed Algeria’s eagerness to strengthen trade ties, highlighting Uganda’s growing coffee exports. “We began importing coffee from Uganda last year, with an initial contract of 800 tonnes. We are ready to increase imports to 20,000 tonnes annually,” he said.
However, Algeria faced significant challenges in sourcing milk from Uganda. Despite submitting tenders with competitive pricing, no Ugandan company responded. Cherfa attributed the failure to language barriers and limited engagement by Ugandan businesses. Assuring future cooperation, he stated, “We will revisit the process and improve communication to facilitate Ugandan participation.”
President Museveni acknowledged the issue and promised to investigate the lack of response from Ugandan dairy companies. Major players, including Brookside, Amos Dairies, and Pearl Dairies, had been positioned to supply Algeria’s market, alongside new entrants like Milkman, Jesa, and Lakeside. Uganda’s milk production stands at 5.3 billion liters annually, but local consumption remains at just 800 million liters, highlighting the country’s export potential.