Roosevelt Africa Trail: Uganda Courts US Travellers Through a Presidential Library in North Dakota

The Roosevelt Africa Trail, a heritage tourism initiative built around Theodore Roosevelt's 1909–1910 expedition through East Africa, has taken Uganda's pitch for American travellers to the American Midwest. In a press release dated 12 October and reported by the Nile Post, the initiative said it had held talks in North Dakota about promoting Uganda through the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, and about bringing in the library's architects to help plan a proposed Roosevelt Africa Museum in Uganda.

Nothing has been signed yet. The Nile Post stresses that any partnership with the library still needs agreed terms and clearly divided responsibilities, and that the wider investment portfolio depends on feasibility studies, financing and approvals. Even so, the talks are the first concrete follow-up since the United States named the trail as the first deal under its new Trade Over Aid framework in New York last month, and they point to how Uganda hopes to grow one of its smaller but higher-spending source markets.

What happened in North Dakota

According to the Nile Post, representatives of the initiative met at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on 8 October with Zach Mathern and Josh Kehtwald of JLG Architects, the library's architect of record, and with Chris Blackwell representing the library. The 12 October release also referred to engagements with North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong and with Robbie Lauf, the library's acting chief executive, who the Nile Post reports has expressed optimism about cross-promotion. No one was quoted directly.

Two strands came out of the talks. The first is marketing. Rather than a new exhibition, the proposal is to use the library's existing African material for better interpretation, digital storytelling, destination information and educational programmes about Uganda, developed with Ugandan museums, historians, cultural institutions, scientists and conservation groups. The Nile Post reports that the library's African collection includes a lion, Buganda-related materials, a manuscript on African game trails and an original ledger of African animals and plants from the expedition.

The second strand is design. JLG Architects is being explored as a possible partner for the proposed Roosevelt Africa Museum of History and Science, Library and Resort, the immediate focus of the portfolio. Its role would be technical concepts, preliminary budgets and documents for feasibility work. The Nile Post notes that the talks do not confirm JLG's appointment, and no site for the museum has been published.

The audience Uganda is chasing

The library opened in July 2026. The Nile Post, citing the initiative, reports about 180,000 visitors since then and between 1,500 and 1,800 a day. The initiative's own calculation is that reaching one in ten of them would put Uganda in front of about 18,000 potential customers, a projected reach the paper is careful to separate from confirmed travellers.

For context, the same reporting cites official figures showing arrivals to Uganda from the Americas rising from 23,643 in 2023 to 28,751 in 2024. That is a small share of the 1.64 million international visitors Uganda recorded in 2025, but it is the market this initiative is designed to grow. See our report on Uganda's record 2025 arrivals for the national picture.

The initiative also proposes a Virtual Roosevelt Africa Trail: an online platform with information on national parks and safari itineraries that would link visitors to tour operators, hotels, guides and community enterprises. The parks it names for promotion are Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo Valley, Bwindi Impenetrable and Kibale.

Background: a US$1.2 billion pipeline, not a cheque

The trail stepped onto the international stage on 25 September at the Trade Over Aid Deals Showcase at the Lotte New York Palace during UN General Assembly week. New Vision reported that the event was hosted by US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and co-hosted by US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz and Export-Import Bank of the United States president John Jovanovic, and that the trail was announced as the first deal under the framework.

The headline figure, US$1.2 billion, covers the Uganda leg only. Both New Vision and PML Daily make clear that it is an indicative investment pipeline, not money approved or disbursed by EXIM, the US International Development Finance Corporation or any other US institution. The next phase, New Vision reported, is to break the pipeline into bankable projects, complete feasibility studies, find partners and structure any financing.

The portfolio has four parts: the museum, library and resort with wider destination development; Smart Monuments and a digital trail; tourism and hospitality development; and Roosevelt Africa Safari Coffee, a value-added coffee business aimed at US consumers. The Ugandan corridor described in the New York materials runs from Entebbe and Lake Victoria through Kampala and Buganda, including Namugongo, into Bunyoro-Kitara via Hoima, Masindi and Butiaba, then through Budongo Forest and Murchison Falls National Park and along the Albert Nile to Rhino Camp, Ajai Wildlife Reserve and West Nile.

The Ugandan delegation in New York included Foreign Affairs Minister Adonia Ayebare and Ambassador to the US Robie Kakonge, alongside Diana Kyaremera of AGE Safaris and the trail's Joshua Sentongo and Frederick Kiggundu, according to New Vision.

Why it matters for the industry

The initiative fits a broader government push to earn more from each visitor rather than simply count more arrivals, with the Finance Ministry setting a target of US$5 billion in annual tourism receipts by 2030. Heritage storytelling aimed at a specific foreign audience is one way to lengthen trips and lift spending, and the proposed corridor runs well beyond the southwestern gorilla circuit, north through Budongo to West Nile.

The gap between a pipeline and a built attraction is wide, though. Until feasibility studies are finished and financing is in place, the near-term effect is likely to be marketing exposure in the United States rather than new facilities on the ground.

What it means for travellers

There is no new museum, trail product or booking platform to use yet, and no timeline has been announced. Everything on the proposed corridor can already be visited today: Entebbe and Kampala, the Namugongo shrines, Budongo Forest and the Nile at Murchison Falls. For planning and current park fees, see our guide to what a Murchison Falls trip costs.

For entry requirements when combining Uganda with Kenya and Rwanda, see our East Africa Tourist Visa guide.

Photo: Smithsonian Institution Archives / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).