La Vie Sociale

Defence Advisers Urged To Embrace Public Diplomacy To Advance Uganda’s Economic Interests

Stilson Muhwezi

Kampala, Uganda – Defence Advisers serving at Uganda’s missions abroad were urged to integrate public diplomacy into their core mandate as a strategic tool for advancing the country’s economic and commercial interests overseas. The call was made during a three-day retreat at the Defence Intelligence and Security Headquarters in Mbuya. The retreat was convened to prepare Defence Advisers for their postings and align their work with Uganda’s foreign policy priorities.

Participants were reminded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence worked as partners in advancing Uganda’s interests and that they were coordinating closely at embassies abroad to deliver shared results. Addressing the officers, Mrs. Margaret Kafeero, Head of the Public Diplomacy Department at MoFA, emphasised that influence in modern diplomacy was increasingly secured through soft power attraction, persuasion, and credibility. She stated that public diplomacy creats the conditions for trade, investment, and tourism to flourish, and that it was not peripheral to commercial diplomacy but preceded it.

Mrs. Kafeero noted that Uganda’s creative industry was a key lever for projecting national identity and unlocking opportunities. She added that music, film, visual arts, theatre, and comedy contributed an estimated 3%–4.1% of GDP, placing the sector on par with mining in economic weight and ahead of several agricultural value chains. She also highlighted that sport was functioning as a global industry that drove branding, tourism, and investment. Defence Advisers were urged to take an active interest in Uganda’s sports calendar, including the Tusker Lite Rwenzori Marathon and the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which were expected to be major drivers of tourism a central pillar of Uganda’s diplomacy.

The retreat equipped Defence Advisers with knowledge and practical insights to align their work with national priorities on export promotion, investment attraction, and tourism development. The goal was to ensure their engagement abroad contributed measurably to economic outcomes for Uganda.