KAMPALA, April 28 — Uganda is making final deliberations in trading off its surplus sugar to neighboring Tanzania with the first consignment of 20,000 tons being agreed upon.

A State House statement issued on Tuesday said the consignment of brown sugar will be exported to Tanzania by the end of May 2020.

“This is the first consignment, which has opened up market opportunities for the Ugandan sugar millers who have surplus production,” the statement said.

The statement said president Yoweri Museveni on Monday met Tanzania’s representatives headed by Seif Ally Seif, managing director of Kagera Sugar Limited. Museveni hailed his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli for allowing to import sugar from Uganda.

Amelia Kyambadde, Uganda’s minister of trade, told the meeting that the deal is a relief for Ugandan millers who have been trying to penetrate the Tanzanian market for a long time. Kyambadde said subsequent exports will be made in due course.

The minister said Uganda has a sugar surplus of 48,000 tons, which can be exported to address Tanzania’s current sugar shortage.

Uganda’s sugar industry comprises of 11 functional sugar mills producing some 510,000 tons and the consumption is 360,000 tons per annum, according to ministry of trade figures. The surplus is sufficient for export, according to the minister.