PS Robert Kasande says oil companies will give priority to goods and services provided by Ugandan citizens and registered entities owned by Ugandans
National participation of Ugandans will be maximized through three main ways -provision of goods and services by Ugandans, employment and training of Ugandans and technology transfer to Ugandans
By Sierra Ruth Arinaitwe
Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has established policy provisions for national participation through which Ugandans will be given priority to maximally benefit from the development of the country ‘s nascent oil and gas sector, Permanent Secretary , Mr. Robert Kasande has assured the country .
With the sector’s moving into the development and production phases for commercial quantities of oil in the Lake Albert basin- there will be many jobs created in the areas of engineering, service sub -sectors such as construction, transport , food for the different infrastructure development that is required for the production and commercialization of Uganda’s crude oil.
According to Kasande, national participation of Ugandans will be maximized through three main ways including “provision of goods and services by Ugandans, employment and training of Ugandans and technology transfer to Ugandans.”
Kasende was speaking during the 7th Annual Oil and Gas Convention, which was held virtually due to the nationwide lockdown caused by the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic that has left more than 750 Ugandans dead.
“ Ugandan entrepreneurs will be given chance to provide goods and services to be used during the production and commercialization of the crude oil in the Lake Albert basin. Section 53 and 125 of the upstream and midstream Acts states that the licensee, their contractors and subcontractors are required to give priority to goods and services provided by Ugandan citizens and registered entities owned by Ugandans,”the PS stated .
The regulations that have been developed by government through the Energy Ministry have ring-fenced a number goods and services that can only be provided by Ugandan citizens and Ugandan companies. Among these include; transportation, security, foods and beverages, hotel accommodation and catering , human resource management, office supplies ,fuel supply, land surveying, clearing and forwarding, locally available construction materials , civil works, environment studies and impact assessment, communication and information technology service, waste management and crane hire.
The policies also state that there will be provision of employment and training to Ugandans. Sections 54 and 126 of the Upstream and Midstream Acts provide for “training, recruitment and employment of Ugandans in all phases of petroleum activities taking into account gender, equity, persons with disabilities and host communities.”
Kasande explained that the regulations require that Ugandan citizens are given priority for employment in any petroleum activity executed by any licensee.
He noted that in order to ensure successful implementation of the policy provision of national participation, there will be need to effectively implement the available policy provisions within the existing policy, legal and regulatory framework to foster national participation.
He called for collaboration and coordination among the key stakeholders to efficiently implement the policy provisions to ensure maximum national participation in the oil and gas industry, establishment of industry collaboration forums and development and application of a holistic approach to measure and monitor national local content participation.
