Stanbic Bank Uganda says it is ready to play a major role in Uganda’s nascent oil and gas sector by financing oil related activities.
To harness the opportunities the oil and gas sector presents, Stanbic Bank in collaboration with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) on Friday hosted an Oil &Gas Conference at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala.
The discussion focused on partnership opportunities and encouraged greater cooperation between Ugandan and Chinese businesses in the country’s nascent Oil & Gas sector.
Patrick Mweheire, the Chief Executive Officer at Stanbic Bank said that: “Uganda stands at a critical point in its economic future; the confirmation of commercially viable quantities of Oil & Gas has created a lot of interest and could potentially be the game changer as far as the transformation of our economy is concerned.”
The conference was aimed at giving companies from both China and Uganda an in-depth understanding of possible partnership opportunities, guide Ugandan businesses on what it will take to participate in the sector and give invaluable business insights from two financial giants, who are uniquely placed to help them get ahead in the Oil & Gas sector.
Stanbic Bank and ICBC have a longstanding relationship providing financial solutions for small and large companies doing business between Africa and China. This relationship was further cemented in 2007 with ICBC buying a 20% stake in Standard bank, giving the two partners a much stronger bond and creating a unique linkage between the two markets.
Talking about the role he expects Stanbic and ICBC to play in the development of Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector, Wang Lubin, the Chief Representative Officer at ICBC and Board Member of Standard Bank Group said, “ICBC and Stanbic Bank are very well placed to play a leading role in the development of the sector.
We have already been working with Government and the companies who are executing a number of critical Oil related infrastructure projects and have vast experience working together on large scale projects across the continent. To date Standard Bank and ICBC have jointly financed deals worth about 15 Billion dollars between Africa &China.”
Stanbic Already ‘In The Thing’
Uganda’s Oil and Gas sector is expected to attract investment of about 14 Billion dollars with the majority of the capital directed towards infrastructural development. These include the Uganda Tanzania crude Oil pipeline where Stanbic Uganda was recently appointed alongside Sumitomo Mitsui of Japan as joint financial advisors for the 1,445km pipeline. The two are expected to raise capital of 3 billion dollars for the project.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli commissioned the construction of the $3.5 billion pipeline earlier this month.
Speaking about local content and need for greater cooperation between Ugandan and Chinese companies, Ernest Rubondo, The Executive Director of the Uganda Petroleum Authority of Uganda revealed that Government had already put in place policies and procedures that will ensure Ugandan companies actively participating in the sectors development.
He said that possible areas for partnerships include but not limited to 500 wells that will be drilled in the next 3-5 years, processing facilities (with capacity to produce 200,000 barrels per day), in-field flow lines, field crude oil storage tanks, waste management services, power generation and refinery with capacity to refine 60,000 barrels per day.
“As you to take on these opportunities I would advise you to look for international partners who have specialized skills and resources you might not currently have. This will allow you to scale up your operations a lot faster and take advantage of new business streams at a minimal cost,” he said.
