Okaasai Sidronius Opolot, the Minister of State for Energy and Mineral Development
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Uganda Embassy in Beijing- China coordinated and participated in the China (Changsha) -Uganda Investment Economic and Trade Promotion Event that was held today 25th April 2023 at the Serena Kampala Hotel.
The Conference was to further bolster bilateral cooperation between Uganda and the People’s Republic of China specifically the sister-sister relations of Changsha City and Entebbe City. The promotion conference focused on showcasing Uganda’s Investment opportunities in the areas of agriculture value addition; mineral development and promotion of the 3rd China Africa Economic and Trade Expo scheduled for June this year. The Government of Uganda was represented by Frank Tumwebaze, Minister of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries; Okaasai Sidronius Opolot, Minister of State for Energy and Mineral Development; Amb, Elly Kamahunge Kafeero, Ag. Director, Regional and Economic Affairs as well as other Government Officials from different MDAs. Over 60 companies from Uganda and China participated in the event.
While addressing the conference, Okaasai said the country is glad to have had and continue to have a number of investors from China in the energy, mining and petroleum sectors under my Ministry.
‘’Uganda admires the development trajectory of China which has been able to progress in the last few decades and managed to completely transform its economy into a global power house. Uganda is therefore, privileged to have China as a creditable development and business partner. We commit to continue promoting and supporting the mutual collaboration between Ugandan and Chinese companies. Uganda has set out to pursue its development path through the Sustainable Development Goals, which are largely in line with its Vision 2040 whose goal is to transform Uganda from a peasant to a prosperous country within 30 years. The Vision is implemented through National Development Plans and the National Development Plan III which is under implementation identifies the petroleum, energy and mineral industries as some of the anchors for the transformation of the country. My Ministry will therefore continue taking advantage of the good relationship with the business community/investors from China in the sub-sectors of Energy, Petroleum and Mining to deliver on the development mandates under the NDP III,’’ Okaasai said.
He told the conference that Uganda presents great opportunities in the oil and gas sector in the various projects including the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Project, Kingfisher Development Project, Tilenga Project which ongoing and oil and gas exploration through the upcoming third licensing round together with investment in the downstream segment of the oil and gas sector.
In the energy sector the Government is working to increase generation of energy, he said ‘’modernization and expansion of energy transmission and distribution. This presents various opportunities for investment and partnership between Chinese and Ugandan companies.’’
‘’Uganda is well endowed with enormous natural resources such as Minerals, hydro, geothermal, petroleum resources, wind, solar thermal yet only a small fraction of this potential has been developed. Most of these sources are renewable and the current potential is as follows: Hydro is 4,500 MW, Solar is 5000MW, Nuclear is 2000MW, Biomass is 91521,650 tons, Geothermal is 1500 MW and wind is 7.5 m/s. The country recognizes the significance and potential of the mining sector characterized by the mapping of a number of minerals in the country including Gold, iron ores, Tin, Tungsten, Tantalite, Copper, Cobalt, Lithium, Graphite, rare earth elements, uranium, industrial minerals among others. In this regard, the policy and legal framework has been reviewed and updated which is expected to streamline the management and regulation of the mining sector in the country. To support the above initiatives, Uganda provides a very conducive investment through the growing market for various products, good infrastructure, political and economic stability, liberalised banking and finance, legal and regulatory framework and qualified and competent human resource,’’ Okaasai said.
Kang Zhenlin, the Deputy Mayor of Changsha City in Human Province of China said: ‘’We believe that with the joint efforts of both sides, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Uganda will become closer.’’
‘’We will bear more fruitful cooperation, especially in energy development, infrastructure construction, industrial synergy and resource complementary,’’ he added.
Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, Zhang Lizhong, described China and Uganda as ‘’good friends, good partners and good brothers.’’
‘’Under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Museveni, China-Uganda relationship has made significant progress in recent years and is in its best shape. Our political mutual trust has been continuously deepened, laying a solid foundation for the development of bilateral economic cooperation. In 2022, the economic cooperation between China and Uganda withstood the test of uncertain factors in the post-pandemic era and showed a good momentum of steady progress. The bilateral trade volume rose by 6.6% against the trend, reaching 1.14 billion US dollars. China granted zero-tariff treatment for 98% taxable items to Uganda and will support Uganda in exporting more value-added products into the Chinese market. A new direct flight between Entebbe and China’s Guangzhou is expected to be soon opened for trade facilitation and people-to-people exchange. Chinese enterprises remained enthusiastic for investment in Uganda. China’s direct investment in Uganda reached 131 million US dollars in 2022, ranking No.10th among all African countries. The two sides have made positive progress in investment projects in the fields of transportation, electricity generation and transmission, oil development and industrial parks. [Ambassador also shared his field visits findings that as business environment in Uganda improves, more Chinese companies are coming for investment opportunities in industrial parks here.]. These hard-won achievements fully reflect the great importance attached by the governments and entrepreneurs of our two countries in deepening bilateral economic cooperation, and further strengthen our confidence in tiding over uncertainties during the world economy recovery and creating a better future together,’’ he said.
Sharing a profound tradition of friendship, the Ambassador said that China and Uganda always view the other’s development as its own opportunity and both seek to promote mutual development and prosperity through closer cooperation.
‘’Guided by the principle of upholding justice while pursuing shared interests and the principle of sincerity, real results, affinity, and good faith, which were put forward by President Xi during his first state visit to Africa in March 2013, China stays firmly committed to working with Uganda to implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Conferences, the Global Development Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and advance high quality Belt and Road cooperation for shared prosperity.’’
As China’s Ambassador to Uganda, Zhang added ‘’I proudly say that our fruitful and wide-ranging practical cooperation stands out in China-Africa cooperation, and I expect the pace of opening up and cooperation between China and Uganda to become steadier, and the prospect become brighter.’’
