Tanzania now Uganda’s top import source on gold surge

Of this, Tanzania accounted for Ushs12.46 trillion (about Tsh8.57 trillion), representing 21.94 per cent of total imports, making it Uganda’s single biggest supplier.

The figures place Tanzania ahead of China, India, the United Arab Emirates and Kenya, marking a significant reordering of Uganda’s import hierarchy over the past four years.

Uganda’s Daily Nation described the development as “a fundamental reshaping of East Africa’s trade architecture driven not by manufactured goods, but by mineral flows that are redefining regional commerce”.

Rapid rise of Tanzania-Uganda trade.

URA data shows that Uganda’s imports from Tanzania have grown exponentially from Ushhs1.12 trillion (about Tsh770 billion) in June 2022 to Ushs12.46 trillion (about Tsh8.57 trillion) in June 2025 — an increase of more than 1,000 per cent in just four years.

In contrast, imports from China rose from Ushs6.45 trillion (about Tsh4.44 trillion) to Ushs10.92 trillion (about Tsh7.51 trillion) over the same period, while Kenya’s exports to Uganda increased from Ushs2.49 trillion (about Tsh1.71 trillion) to Ushs4.39 trillion (about Tsh3.02 trillion).

India and the UAE also recorded moderate growth, but none matched Tanzania’s pace. The result is a decisive shift, with Tanzania now accounting for about 21.9 percent of Uganda’s total imports, compared to China’s 19.2 percent.

Bank of Uganda Director for Research Adam Mugume was quoted by Daily Nation as saying that the overwhelming share of imports from Tanzania consists of gold and other precious metals.

“Most of the imports from Tanzania are gold, which explains the unusually high value recorded in the trade statistics,” Mugume said.

He noted that Uganda’s non-mineral imports from Tanzania, including food items such as rice, remain relatively small in comparison.

URA data strongly supports this explanation, showing that Uganda’s imports under the precious metals and jewellery category jumped from Ushs4.22 billion (about Tsh2.9 trillion) in 2021/22 to Ushs16.65 trillion (about Tsh11.45 trillion) in 2024/25 — now accounting for nearly 29 per cent of all imports.

The surge in Tanzania’s trade position reflects a broader shift towards intra-African commerce.

Imports from Africa as a whole rose from Ushs5.11 trillion (about Tsh3.51 trillion) to Ushs30.68 trillion (about Tsh21.1 trillion) in four years, supported by regional integration under the East African Community and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Tanzania’s rise has come at the expense of Kenya, which has traditionally been one of Uganda’s strongest trading partners. In 2021/22, Uganda imported more than twice as much from Kenya as from Tanzania. By 2024/25, Tanzania had overtaken Kenya by a wide margin.

Even the Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded sharp growth, with imports into Uganda rising from Ushs44.6 billion (about Tsh30.67 billion) in 2022 to Ushs2.18 trillion (about Tsh1.5 trillion) in 2025, largely linked to mineral trade.

The data also highlights Uganda’s growing position as a regional gold trading and refining hub.

While Uganda imported Ushs16.65 trillion (about Tsh11.45 trillion) worth of precious metals and jewellery in 2024/25, it also exported Ushs15.82 trillion (about Tsh10.88 trillion) in the same category, indicating significant re-export activity after processing.

This trend suggests that gold imported from countries such as Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo is increasingly being refined in Uganda before being re-exported.

Kenya, once Uganda’s dominant regional supplier, has steadily lost ground as Tanzania’s exports have expanded.

Tanzania’s shipments to Uganda are now nearly three times those of Kenya, underscoring the shifting importance of trade routes linked to Dar es Salaam port and regional logistics networks.

Despite this shift, China remains a major supplier of machinery, electronics, textiles and industrial inputs, while India and the United Arab Emirates continue to play key roles in Uganda’s import basket.