Uganda Pitches $1.2 Billion Investment Pipeline at U.S. Trade Over Aid Showcase

New York (GAB): The U.S. Mission to the United Nations convened officials from 50 countries and representatives of major American companies on Friday for a Trade Over Aid Deals Showcase aimed at developing commercial projects in infrastructure, technology, and other sectors.

Held during United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, the event brought together six U.S. government agencies and 24 private-sector entities. Speakers included U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Export-Import Bank President and Chairman John Jovanovic, and Ryan Goodnight, SpaceX’s senior director for market access and development.

The showcase paired the administration’s call for greater trade and investment with examples of projects at different stages of development. They ranged from investments already advanced by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to proposals seeking commercial and financial partners.

Uganda presented one of those proposals through the Roosevelt Africa Trail, a $1.2 billion investment pipeline submitted by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The initiative brings together potential projects in tourism, agricultural value addition, infrastructure and technology, with the aim of creating opportunities for U.S. businesses and jobs in Uganda. The $1.2 billion represents the proposed pipeline’s value; it was not announced as funding committed at Friday’s event.

Ambassador Mike Waltz, Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN, opened the showcase by criticizing aid projects that deliver individual components without ensuring that the finished service can operate. He cited schools built without teachers, curriculum or power as an example of the coordination problems he said the initiative seeks to address.

“It’s about jobs, not dependencies,” Waltz said. He called on U.S. agencies to align their efforts and urged private companies to participate. “We want you at the table,” he told business representatives.

Christopher Landau, Deputy Secretary of State, said commercial relationships should be a central part of diplomacy. Economic projects, he argued, can create ties that endure beyond the terms of the officials who helped bring them about. Governments can connect prospective partners, but companies must be able to assess the risks before investing.

“What businesses want is certainty and a framework,” Landau said. He emphasized that sovereign governments set the terms for investment in their countries and that investors need to know those terms will be honored.

Goodnight used SpaceX’s presentation to describe how its Starlink satellite service works with governments and local businesses to expand internet access, particularly for schools. Although SpaceX operates a global satellite network, he said, its approach in individual markets depends on a local presence.

“The best way to do business in markets is to do so as though you are a local company as well,” Goodnight said. SpaceX establishes subsidiaries in countries where it operates and works with local companies, governments and ministries, he said.

Goodnight described a school connectivity project that had begun connecting 2,100 schools. He also discussed an arrangement in Bolivia under which Starlink distribution involves the government and telecommunications ministries. In explaining the broader need, Goodnight said many schools remain unconnected because existing options, including fiber-optic cables and microwave links, can be too costly to extend to them.

He said SpaceX’s reusable rockets had helped lower launch costs enough to build the Starlink satellite network. The company operates in more than 170 markets and serves more than 12 million customers, according to figures he gave at the event.

John Jovanovic, Export -Import Bank President and Chairman, presented export financing as another tool for bringing projects forward. He cited opportunities involving American-made locomotives in Kazakhstan and nuclear energy projects in Poland and Romania. U.S. companies can compete for such work while maintaining their standards, he said, but “we have to show up.”

The Development Finance Corporation highlighted transactions it had previously advanced, including an investment in WIOCC’s digital infrastructure across Africa, an investment in Cambodia’s Techo International Airport and a trade-finance facility with the International Finance Corporation intended to support purchases of American goods abroad.

The U.S. Mission also introduced a deals section of its Trade Over Aid digital library, allowing countries to present investment opportunities to prospective partners. Its existing library contains more than 90 capacity-building offers from 68 contributors, including companies and government agencies.

Friday’s presentations covered both identified investments and projects still seeking partners. For Uganda and other countries that submitted proposals, the next stages are to establish the scope of individual projects, negotiate commercial terms, and secure financing.