• Shops infrastructure development partners

Sopuruchi Onwuka

The need for collaboration among players in the African energy industry has become urgent in order to join forces in meeting the rising demand associated with the continent’s growing youth and productive population.

It is in this line that the Ugandan National Oil Company (UNOC) is seeking credible African partners to realize the country’s comprehensive oilfield and infrastructure expansion plan for its fast developing petroleum industry.

Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Proscovia Nabbanja, stated that intra-continental collaboration on funding and expertise has become urgent in the face of Africa’s energy poverty and the need for speedy development of resources. She noted that over 600 million people still need to be connected to grid power in the continent, adding that Africa currently needs all available forms of energy to drive growth and development.

Mrs Nabbanja who featured in the Oida Fireside Chat series declared that Uganda is willing to partner African professionals, investors and service providers in its prevailing petroleum industry infrastructure and facility expansion programme. 

The Oida Fireside Chat is a leading issues resolution and experience sharing platform hosted by the Oida Energy Group, Nigeria’s foremost petroleum industry technology services and resource-to-market solutions provider.

The Oida Fireside Chat which is anchored by Nigeria’s award winning television presenters engages participants with deep insights and fresh perspectives on emerging trends, challenges and solutions in the global energy industry, especially in the face of the prevailing paradox of climate concerns at a time of rising demand.

Mrs Nabbanja who spoke in Lagos, Nigeria, declared that UNOC is driving a diversity of industry programmes conceived to achieve part of the African objectives of closing vast energy supply gaps, attaining sufficiency and driving towards energy security in the medium to long term.

She noted that the industry expansion programmes host critical projects designed to accelerate development of the Ugandan petroleum industry, achieve first oil, and develop a comprehensive infrastructure network that would service players along the full operating loop.

The company which is currently working to develop its assigned oil block, according to Mrs Proscovia, is also driving a $4.0 billion refining project, a 29 square kilometre industrial park and a 320 million litter capacity product holding depot.

The company, she said, also holds 15 percent stake in the East African Oil Pipeline project operated by TotalEnergies and other commercial partners.

Mrs Nabbanja stated that UNOC would need partners in expanding the scope of investments in the Ugandan petroleum industry which she said currently hosts some $20 billion of capital inflow. She pledged that the government of Uganda is committed to ensure that the rate of returns on investments in the country remains very rewarding.

The company, she explained, is already working with TotalEnergies in the upstream exploration, development and production as well as in regional pipeline projects.

She said UNOC is saddled with the enormous task of developing full value loop of the Ugandan petroleum industry in line with official mandate to manage the country’s economic interests in the energy sector.

Despite its involvement with TotalEnergies in the upstream, Mrs Nabbanja stated, the company is separately developing a refinery and sufficiently supplying the domestic market with imported petroleum products ahead of the completion and commissioning of the refinery.

The industrial park, according to her, is part of the comprehensive industry infrastructure network the country is developing to make the domestic business environment congenial for investors.

Mrs Procovia who emphasized cross-border collaboration among African energy producers stated that the industry must lead the vision of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) conceived to smoothen the interconnection of economies and flow of trade among neighbouring countries.

In calling for collaboration, Mrs Proscovia stated that the priority of the Ugandan nation was to valorise all its available and potential energy resources, including fossil fuels and green energy sources. She stated that the need for cross border collaborations for shared energy has become critical because, according to her, regional power pools have failed in bridging supply gaps.

With over 600 million people yet o be connected to grid power in the continent, she noted, Africa still needs all available forms of energy to drive growth and development. She made it clear that whereas energy transition remains a global concern, energy poverty is a huge and palpable problem for Africa.

The Ugandan minister listed some of the challenges facing the African energy sector to include capital flight, climate sentiments and energy transition, talent flight, and the urgent need for decarbonization technology.

While calling on African governments to evolve alternative funding arrangements for the petroleum industry, she restated the resolve of the Ugandan government to continue investing in the development of fossil energy.

She explained that hydrocarbon energy would still continue to be fundamental to Africa’s industrialization, pointing out that industrial and heavy equipment would continue to run on petroleum fuels for a long time to come.