KAMPALA – The Government of Uganda is mobilising about 350 exhibitors, its largest delegation in years, for the 26th East African Community (EAC) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Trade Fair, scheduled to take place in Rwanda.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The announcement was made by Rt. Hon. Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of East African Community Affairs, during a press briefing held at the Ministry’s offices in Kampala on Wednesday, 30th September 2026.
The 26th EAC MSMEs Trade Fair, slated for 30th October to 8th November 2026, is being held under the theme: “Advancing Regional Value Chains in Leather and Horticulture,” while Uganda’s Day (7th November 2026) will be themed “Recognition of Women in Trade Champions.”
Kadaga confirmed Uganda’s participation in the region’s flagship MSME platform, noting that the Ministry is collaborating with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives and CMSEO-UG to mobilize participants for the Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi Exhibition.
She noted that the Fair drives EAC integration by promoting intra-EAC trade, encouraging innovation and skills development, fostering regional unity through shared entrepreneurship, and giving MSMEs cross-border business experience.
“Uganda will take part in the region’s biggest MSME event. We are working with the Ministry of Trade and CMSEO-UG to mobilize Ugandans for the Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi Exhibition, which boosts EAC trade, markets for local goods, innovation and cross-border business,” Rt. Hon. Kadaga said.
Rt. Hon. Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga confirmed to the press that about 184 Ugandan enterprises had formally registered with the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat for the 26th Trade Fair.
She noted that Uganda’s National Organising Committee, coordinated by MTIC and MEACA, is targeting over 350 exhibitors, surpassing the 305 sent to Nairobi and nearing the 544 peak of the 2022 Kampala edition.
The mobilisation has been carried out through District Commercial Officers, CMSEO-UG’s nationwide MSME network, and targeted outreach to leather and horticulture enterprises in line with the Fair’s focus sectors.
Uganda has consistently punched above its weight at the Trade Fair, sending its largest-ever non-host delegation of 305 exhibitors, 80 percent of them women-led from 39 districts, to the 25th edition in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2025.
Three Ugandan enterprises won best exhibitor recognition: Raw Organic (Best Exhibitor), Hannie Chocolate (1st Runner-Up), and Simon Sharp Products (2nd Runner-Up).
Multiple exhibitors reported post-event orders from Kenya, Tanzania, and Burundi, while two enterprises signed formal B2B partnership agreements.
Uganda’s historical participation includes notable achievements such as leather and metal products gaining Kenyan market entry in 2018, and food processors connecting with Rwandan distributors in 2019.
Uganda’s metallic hospital beds also attracted demand from Kenya alongside iron gate orders from Rwanda in 2024, and the country’s largest participation came in 2022 when it hosted the Fair in Kampala with 544 exhibitors.
First inaugurated by EAC Heads of State in 1999 in Arusha, Tanzania, alongside the signing of the Treaty Establishing the East African Community, the Trade Fair has grown over 26 years from a modest artisans’ exhibition into the region’s most significant MSME gathering.
The fair attracts thousands of entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and development partners from all eight Partner States: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
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