Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) to invest $840 million in joint infrastructure projects in the oil and gas sector in Uganda, said Proscovia Nabbanja, the Chief Executive Officer.
Nabbanja signed a memorandum of understanding with Stanbic Bank to facilitate the two entities collaborating to train local entrepreneurs ahead of oil developments.
She said a significant amount of money either through loans or the national budget will go towards investments in the refinery, pipeline, bulk trading, storage tank as well as the industrial park.
“We hope that this level of equity will be spread in a period of five years in our national budgets to ease pressure on the country’s debt burden,” she said. “The investment will be based on the medium-term expenditure framework.”
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Out of the planned $4 billion in the oil refinery and $3.5 billion investment in the pipeline, UNOC will provide $480 million in the oil refinery development and $258 million in the pipeline development. Out of the planned $1.6 million, UNOC will also invest $71.4 million in the storage tanks.
However, UNOC will individually invest and $19 million in the industrial park and $12 million in oil and gas bulk trading.
Nabbanja said the partnerships with institutions such as Stanbic are helpful in promoting national content by providing necessary training and information on the opportunities for local businesses in the oil and gas sector.
“In this MoU, UNOC will provide subject matter experts to support the development of businesses on the Enterprise Development programme and also provide support to the Stanbic Business Incubator Centre’s training and research activities in Enterprise Development,” She said.
“It is important that local companies are kept abreast of the developments in such a dynamic industry to help them develop business models that are adaptable. This is fundamental if they are to remain relevant in such a competitive market place.”
Stanbic Bank’s Chief Executive, Patrick Mweheire said “As a way of ensuring Ugandan companies participate in the oil and gas activities, we established the Business Incubator with the aim to reach as many SMEs as possible and continue to support their growth and development across the nation,” Mweheire said.
