President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has appointed former National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Managing Director Richard Byarugaba and ex–Trademark Africa Country Director Moses Sabiti as Senior Presidential Advisors on the Exports and Industry Advisory Secretariat, in a move aimed at strengthening Uganda’s long-term export growth strategy.
According to the appointment instructions, the two will serve as key advisers on export financing, infrastructure development, data systems and product aggregation, areas the government considers critical to accelerating Uganda’s competitiveness in regional and global markets.
Their appointment reinforces the work of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID), which was commissioned in March 2022 to address long-standing bottlenecks affecting exports, including limited market access, standards and compliance challenges, high logistics costs and constrained financing.
PACEID Chairperson Odrek Rwabwogo welcomed the appointments, saying the inclusion of seasoned professionals marks a new phase in Uganda’s export push.
“I thank the President for responding to our call to bring in professional and experienced people to support our new approach to growing exports for Uganda,” Rwabwogo said.
He explained that over the past four years, PACEID focused on what he described as “PACEID 1.0,” which emphasized opening new markets, removing trade barriers, supporting exporters in priority sectors and improving compliance standards, while positioning Uganda as a reliable sourcing hub. During this period, the advisory team surpassed its initial export target of USD 6 billion.
Rwabwogo said the country is now transitioning into “PACEID 2.0,” a more ambitious phase centered on data-driven planning, establishment of product aggregation centres to address supply constraints, and mobilization of financing for value addition.
Under this new phase, the government aims to raise 1,000 new export entities across agriculture and industry, with a long-term target of USD 100 billion in exports by 2045.
Byarugaba brings extensive experience in banking and pensions management. He previously led Nile Bank before its acquisition by Barclays Bank, and later served as Managing Director of NSSF, where he is credited with transforming the fund into a highly capitalized institution, growing its assets to over Shs17 trillion.
Sabiti, on the other hand, has a background in public finance and trade facilitation. He spent 17 years at the Uganda Revenue Authority as a senior manager before joining Trademark Africa, where he led efforts to mobilize funding for key border trade and immigration infrastructure projects, including facilities at Kasese, Elegu and Malaba.
