The European Union has pledged EUR50mn ($54.5mn) in new funding for tourism and conservation in Uganda, announced by EU Ambassador to Uganda Jan Sadek during the Uganda-EU Partnership Dialogue in Kampala on October 14.
Sadek, who co-chaired the dialogue with President Yoweri Museveni, said the commitment reflected the EU’s intention to remain a reliable development partner as the two sides marked 50 years of cooperation. He estimated that total European support to Uganda over that period has amounted to approximately EUR20bn ($21.8bn). The EU remains Uganda’s largest trading partner outside Africa, with annual bilateral trade estimated at EUR2.4bn ($2.6bn) and Uganda holding a trade surplus of around EUR1bn ($1.1bn).
A detailed breakdown of how the new EUR50mn will be allocated has not yet been published. The commitment follows a pattern of recent EU-backed tourism and conservation programming in Uganda, including the EUR15.5mn Sustainable Tourism Value Chain Initiative, running from 2026 to 2030 and implemented by Enabel, UNCDF, UNESCO and UNDP, and the earlier “We Explore” project. EU member states have invested more than EUR40mn in Uganda’s tourism sector to date, according to Uganda’s tourism board.
President Museveni used the dialogue to call for stronger EU support on value addition, poverty eradication, irrigation, wetland and forest protection, and affordable energy, urging European partners to help keep more processing of Ugandan products, including coffee and chocolate, within the country.
The funding arrives as Uganda’s tourism sector posts strong growth. The country recorded 739,815 international visitors in the first half of 2026, with tourism receipts of approximately UGX2.3tn, according to Uganda’s tourism ministry. Beyond tourism and conservation, the dialogue also covered cooperation on agricultural processing, mineral development and private sector growth, with both sides agreeing to explore a possible Economic Partnership Agreement and to hold the Uganda-EU Partnership Dialogue annually.
