Friday, December 5

Uganda

Uganda issued a protest note after losing $360,000 to Kenya milk seizure. Now EAC Joint Commission is moving to clear all Non-tariff barriers. www.theexchange.africa

Other than the trade issues, the session examined and harmonized implementation of decisions across various sectors of bilateral cooperation including immigration, education, transport, communication, defence and security, energy and mineral development among others.

The meeting was a success to say the least, however, it still remains to be seen whether in the wake of the meeting, Ugandan truckers will pay less at the Tanzanian border. With a six month reporting period, a lot can transpire in the interim.

It is now going towards a month since the January sit-down and no ground reports have been publicized as to whether the toll fees have been harmonized for Uganda to match other EAC charges at the Tanzanian border.

Total's Philippe Groueix and Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa sign MOU agreement for crude oil production in Uganda. www.theexchange.africa

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said that the memorandum of understanding will see the French firm produce Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and also deploy large-scale renewable energy technologies to identify areas of commercial investment.

Uganda’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa said in a speech ahead of the signing that the agreement would put the country on the path to first oil in 2025. She added that EACOP would create approximately 160,000 jobs during the project’s development.

The agreement dictates TotalEnergies will develop solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable technology power projects in Uganda to add a combined installed electricity output capacity of 1 Gigawatt by 2030 to the current 1.2-Gigawatt production.