The number of Ugandan companies participating in the Oil and gas sector has increased following interventions by the government and stakeholders – a new report has revealed. The report released by the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) looks at how companies are contributing to the development of the nascent sector.
According to the report titled; Ugandan Companies that supplied the oil and gas sector (2017 – 2019), the number of local companies supplying the oil and gas sector has increased from 28 percent in 2017 to 78 percent in the year ended 2019.
According to the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, this was achieved through capacity building of Ugandans, and empowering them to compete with multinationals.
The corporate affairs manager at PAU Gloria Sekibiri says they have set up a business incubator that is aimed at improving the different enterprises.
“We set up a business incubator that has been training different enterprises and they have a number of success stories. It is important to note that this is not only for the oil and gas sector but once you get these skills, they will help you get to a point where you are more competitive,” she says.
Sekibiri adds that the Authority has at least 323 companies that are supplying the oil and gas sector despite a lull in activities pending the signing of the Final Investment Decision.
The report indicates that these companies participated in various sectors including mining and quarrying, Agriculture, forestry & fishing, Manufacturing, Electricity, gas steam air conditioning, Water supply, motor vehicles & motorcycles repairs, Transportation & storage, among others.
The value of the contracts awarded to the companies during the period in review also rose.
Critics say more needs to be done to empower more local companies to get the lion’s share of the contracts awarded.
The Authority is advocating for joint ventures to enable more local companies to participate in the sector.
With the final investment decision in offing there is hope that the local companies will tap into the multibillion dollar sector which will improve livelihoods of many thus transforming the economy
