Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga
First Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for East African Affairs, Republic of Uganda
📍 UK–Africa Business, Trade & Investment Summit 2025
🏛️ The Royal Horseguards Hotel & One Whitehall Place, London
🎯 Session Theme: Unlocking Africa’s Regional Integration Potential
At the 15th UK–Africa Business, Trade & Investment Summit, the Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga delivered one of the event’s most forward-looking addresses — linking regional integration, investor confidence, and human mobility as the foundation for Africa’s next phase of transformation.
“Africa is not seeking handouts. We are seeking investors, innovators, and partners who will co-create our future.” — Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga
Kadaga reaffirmed East Africa’s role as the engine of continental growth, positioning Uganda and its neighbours as the natural gateways for trade and investment. She outlined priority sectors for UK and global partners:
Through AfCFTA, EAC, and COMESA, Africa is constructing a single market of 1.4 billion people with a combined GDP exceeding $3.4 trillion. Yet, to unlock this potential, Africa must address fragmented customs systems and non-tariff barriers.
“Africa’s story is not just about opportunity — it is about readiness. The UK is a natural partner in our journey.”
Kadaga called for urgent implementation of the African Union passport — launched in 2016 but still unavailable to most citizens. She emphasised that freedom of movement is key to youth and SME empowerment.
“The people who really need the African passport are not presidents. It’s the businesspeople, students, traders, and everyday Africans trying to move and trade freely.”
“Mobility is not a luxury. It is a right. Without it, the dream of a connected, competitive Africa will remain on paper.”
Kadaga urged the UK and Commonwealth partners to support trade-enabling infrastructure and border digitisation through public–private partnerships and blended finance models. Her vision of “integration with purpose” is built on shared responsibility and collaborative systems for efficient and inclusive trade.
Kadaga’s agenda aligns directly with Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba’s macroeconomic stability model and Lord Dolar Popat’s investor-confidence framework. Together, they define a coherent architecture of trust, trade, and transformation — where capital flows, trade systems, and mobility operate within a rules-based, investor-friendly ecosystem.
“Integration builds markets, stability builds confidence, and diplomacy converts both into opportunity.”
Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga’s message encapsulates Africa’s next integration era — driven by intra-African trade, investor collaboration, and citizen mobility. Her vision is clear: an Africa where economic borders give way to shared prosperity, and where policy meets partnership to create one continental market.
“We have the vision. We are building the systems. Join us — not just to invest, but to co-create Africa’s future.” — Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga
