Senator Stella Oduah has described as untrue the allegations of her indebtedness to some commercial banks in Nigeria which has led to a court order freezing 21 bank accounts associated with her.

“I resigned from the company since 2010. Sterling got injunction on earlier order. They gave sea shipping facility to buy vessel. They defaulted . But the order lapsed today. The lawyers appealed for set aside. That was what they argued today and order was set aside,” she was quoted in a statement.

A Lagos Federal High Court had on Wednesday restrained Stella Oduah and Sea Petroleum and Gas Company Limited from making any withdrawal from 21 accounts domiciled with some banks.

Other companies that will suffer the same fate include Sea Shipping Agency Ltd, Rotary Engineering Services Ltd, and Tour Afrique Company Ltd.

The court’s order was hinged on an allegation of indebtedness on the part of the defendants to the tune of $16.4 million and N100.5 million.

By Kondwani Magombo-Mana

Malawi Parliament on Friday passed the bill to allow government to borrow MK16.4bn from the European Investment Bank to help the Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) improve its efficiency and to rehabilitate the Lunyangwa Dam.

Presenting the Bill to the House, Finance Minister, Goodall Gondwe, said the loan had a 20-year repayment period with a grace period of 4 years and that it would attract a 1.1 percent interest.

The minister said the loan would benefit over 280,000 households in the north and that it would improve the Board’s services which are currently not at their best.

“At the moment most of the water is being lost without reaching consumers and the loan intends to help the Northern Region Water Board improve its efficiency,” explained Gondwe to journalists after the passing of the Bill.

He added: “It will also be used for the rehabilitation of the Lunyangwa Dam adding one more metre to its depth so that more water should be harnessed and this will increase the dam’s water capacity to 200,000 litres more.”

In their contributions legislators hailed the Bill and prayed for its quick implementation and regular maintenance of the machinery when put in place.

“We are very happy with the Bill but we would want it to also cater for replacement and rehabilitation of water reservoirs,” said Malawi Congress Party’s Dedza East Legislator, Juliana Lunguzi, adding: “We are good at borrowing but we fail to repair the installed equipment.”

Mzimba South West Parliamentarian, Khumbo Kachali, also hailed the Bill but he advised that it was high time the country developed sewer systems and stop using septic tanks.

Kachali added that as a country, there was need for clear programme or policy to ensure availability of water in the country at any time of the year.

By Andre van Wyk

WhatsApp’s move to incorporate a revamped status feature will allow users to share photos and video in the previously text-only field.

In order to do so, users have to download the latest version of the app and select “Status” from the top bar. Users will view their own statuses first but, in a similar fashion to Snapchat, the updates and viewed updates of friends can also be seen.

A new update button on the bottom-right corner of the page opens the camera, allowing users to then choose from existing photos and video or create new content.

Once added, and in a similar fashion to Instagram, users can then see how many people have viewed their status with options to delete or forward it as well. When viewing friends’ updates, users can swipe up and reply to them.

By Nelson Wesonga

Kampala — Up to 65,000 Ugandans are doing odd jobs in the Middle East, the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA), has said.

This is 15,000 higher than the number that was working there one year ago.

Most of them are working as either cleaners, waiters/waitresses, drivers, tailors, construction and factory workers or security guards.

“Their annual contribution in the form of remittances is $400,000,” the acting chairperson of the UAERA, Ms Lillian Keene Mugerwa, told the Parliamentary Committee on Gender, on Wednesday.

The committee had summoned the 63-member association to brief it on the members’ business.

Unemployment

Due to unemployment in Uganda, some of the Ugandans now working in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, sold family property to finance their travel to the Middle East.

Many Ugandans have been made to believe that the ‘returns’ there would be higher than they would ever make in Uganda.

In January 2016, the government banned the export of maids. The ban came on the heels of reports that many Ugandan workers were being mistreated by their Saudi Arabian employers.

Ms Mugerwa, who was accompanied by the managing director (MD) of Middle East Consultants Gordon Mugyenyi, the MD of Magrib Agencies Ltd, Ms Catherine Ocen Ssabwe and the general manager of Horeb Services, Mr Ezra Mugisha, urged government to lift the ban on the export of maids, saying the ban is not serving any purpose. “The ban was put in place without taking into account the fact the majority of the workers that were complaining (of mistreatment) had been deployed by (human) traffickers,” Ms Mugerwa said. “The few licensed companies…stopped. But as we stopped, the traffickers continued to export people to Saudi Arabia. When Saudi Arabia stopped the influx, the traffickers are now taking maids to Oman.”

The Serere Member of Parliament, Patrick Okabe, said the ban should be lifted. “If we maintain the ban, people will find alternatives,” Mr Okabe said.

Ms Beatrice Anywar, the vice chairperson of the Gender Committee said the government should address the reasons that drive Ugandans abroad.

According to Action Aid (2012), six in every 10 Ugandans are unemployed. Some lack the skills employers need. In other cases, the economy is not expanding as fast as the labour force.

By Tatira Zwinoira

Transactional activity in Zimbabwe in recent weeks indicates a slow disappearance of the United States dollar, which is being replaced by bond notes.

The bond notes were introduced last year under the $200 million export incentive to supplement dwindling dollar supplies due to weak exports.

A survey by Standardbusiness in the central business district last week showed that banks were giving out less and less dollars, which are now available only from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

An FBC Bank depositor said the institution was dispensing money depending on the currency they had at the time.

“Sometimes we are given our withdrawals only in bond notes,” the depositor said.

“There used to be days when I received my withdrawals in United States dollars or bond notes while other times it was in both denominations.

“But, most of the time now we are receiving bond notes and very rarely in US dollars.”

Stanbic Bank was giving out $100 in bond notes inside the bank and another $50 in US$ from ATMs, making a total of $150 daily withdrawals.

Cabs was also giving depositors according to the available currency at that particular time.

“It depends on the branch but money is given out based on what the bank has on the particular day,” a Cabs Bank depositor who identified herself as Julia said.

The dollar has also become elusive in supermarkets where customers used to get them through the cashback facility

In an interview with our sister paper, Zimbabwe Independent, RBZ governor John Mangudya confirmed the scarcity of dollars saying banks were holding on to the currency to facilitate foreign payments.

“Each bond note in the economy represents a proportion of up to 5% of the foreign currency earned on exports generated by the economy. It stands to reason therefore that banks are retaining the bulk of foreign exchange for foreign payments,” he said.

“Bond notes will continue to circulate in the economy alongside other currencies in the multiple currency system.”

According to RBZ statistics, $94 million of bond notes are in circulation against an aggregate value of the export incentive of $107 million.

In a recent monetary policy statement, Mangudya said RBZ was putting in place a redistributable measure that mitigated against skewed concentration of bond notes within the banking sector by limiting the maximum amount of bond notes that each bank should hold at any given point in time in relation to its level and type of transactions.

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday said it planned to rehabilitate, revamp and upgrade all the refineries so that there would be no more product import by 2019.

Dr Bello Rabiu, NNPC Chief Operating Officer, (Upstream), said this during a panel discussion session at the West African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAIPEC) organised by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) in Lagos.

NAN reports that the session had the topic: “How Nigerian and West African Market can Better Compete in a Weak and Disruptive Oil Market”.

Rabiu, who was represented by Dr Siky Aliyu, the Managing Director, National Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO), said that the corporation was also supporting the concept of condensate refineries to refine more condensates in the country.

According to him, it is imperative to balance high crude output with high refining capacities to reduce imports costs and charges, export charges and subsidy payments.

“This will effectively position us to get more value from the crude fractions as opposed to a single price value for the crude alone.

“It will also ensure that we are less exposed to market fluctuations and then give us control of products marketing and supply.

“As we reduce reliance on imported refined products, we would be more competitive,” Rabiu said.

The NNPC upstream chief said there was need for new investments in refining capacity to grow and sustain internal consumption and promote external trade amongst West African countries.

He said that there were plans to increase capacities in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Niger Republic with regards to the Nigerian private-sector led Dangote Refinery.

The refinery, Rabiu said that the refinery was proposed as a 650,000bopd refinery located in Lekki, Lagos.

“In terms of economic and trade cooperation amongst ECOWAS countries, the recently proposed Niger-Kaduna refinery crude export pipeline offers a panacea for landlocked West African countries.

“Therefore, it should be promoted as it acts as an alternative source of crude supply to an existing ready market.

“Similar infrastructure running from Chad to Cameroun’s Atlantic coast is in operation,” he said.

Rabiu said that there was need to diversify the West African economic base to be able to handle shocks caused by oil prices.

The NNPC chief called for harmonisation of tariffs on non-ECOWAS goods to promote better economic cooperation with regards to non-oil exports.

He said that harmonisation would expectedly counter the effects of smuggling across the ECOWAS borders.

According to Rabiu, the tariff harmonisation will spur coastal countries to work towards making their ports preferred import destinations to attract greater trade flows and by extension, fiscal revenues.

“It will promote trade amongst West African countries and by extension ECOWAS can forge partnerships with Europe, Asia, etc. for the export of their agricultural produce.

By Francis Mugerwa

Robinah Nantale sits next to a pit. Holding a hammer in her bare right hand, she breaks down hits rocks of multiple colours.

“These stones have been extracted from a vein that has gold,” Ms Nantale, a 39-year-old mother of five, says.

She is among the estimated 50,000 people from all walks of life that have thronged the remote hilly areas of Kitumbi and Bukuya Sub counties, Mubende District, about 172 kilometres west of Kampala, in search of gold.

When she heard of gold prospects in the area, Ms Nantale, who was a peasant farmer in Dingo village, Mubende, abandoned cultivation in February 2013 and moved about 4 kilometres to engage in gold extraction.

She says her adventure has paid off. “We have bought a tipper truck at Shs 33 million and a 17-acre piece of land in Bugangaizi East (Kakumiro District) where our family intends to set up a dairy farm,” she says.

Each of the thousands of people searching for a fortune in gold has a different story to tell on how the business has impacted them.

Congested settlements built haphazardly characterise Kampala, Mukapya, Mukikade, Mukabada, Ewalukwago, Lubaali and Kamusenene gold mines.

The temporary structures are built with white and blue tarpaulins. A handful of permanent structures have been built in recent months.

The miners have hired contractors who have graded for them roads leading to the gold sites and supply thermal power at Shs 20,000 for each business unit per day.

“Majority of the structures are temporary because we operate under uncertainty,” says Ivan Mr Kawuma Male, the project coordinator Singo Artisanal and Small scale Miners Association (SASMA).

The miners are operating without licenses, permits or agreements from the government which regulates the mining industry.

They live in fear that the government may sooner or later evict them.

“Our biggest problem is (lack of) a license. We can operate smoothly if we are legalized,” Male, a university graduate, says.

If the artisanal miners secure a license, argues Mr Male, who with two other graduates mobilized miners into an association, it can be easy to attract investors who can set up schools, hospitals and other social services in the area.

Access to water, medication, education and other social services is a challenge in the gold-rich area that has fertile soils in the low lands.

The Sub County collects market dues while the district collects hawkers’ license fees from businesses operating in the mines. However, the district and Sub County authorities do not collect any other taxes from the gold trade.

The mines are located about 10 kilometres from Bukuya health centre III, the nearest health facility to them. The nearest school is Nazareth Primary School, which is about four kilometres from the mines.

Environmental challenges

Mining has degraded the environment in the area, the Kitumbi Sub county community Development Officer (CDO), Mr Edward Ssenkusu, observes.

The miners have contaminated water sources with mercury and cyanide, he adds.

Mercury and cyanide, some of the heavy metals that are harmful to humans and animals are used by miners to separate gold from soil and other impurities.

Although Uganda signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury in 2013, which aims to curb use of mercury in mining operations, Uganda has not operationalised its provisions.

The miners dispose domestic and human waste in the open due to lack of adequate waste management facilities.

Kampala mine, for example, has three public toilets but accessing them costs between Shs 300 to 500.

The rocky hills have been excavated by miners who have dug hundreds of underground tunnels in search of gold deposits. They use hoes, axes, hammers while others have bought generator-powered demolition hammers for drilling rocks.

The ores are scooped from underground to the surface where they are dried, cleaned of impurities before they are mixed with water and mercury or cyanide, heavy metals that attract gold particles.

The particles are later heated to solidify into gold that is weighed by digital scales before being purchased by readily available buyers who keep hard cash in sacks. A gram of gold is sold between Shs 100,000 to Shs 125,000.

If they are legalized, Mr Ssenkusu says, they will improve on their working methods because they will know that their business is sustainable.

“Currently, the destruction is because they know that they may be forced to leave anytime,” Mr Ssenkusu, a member of Kitumbi-Kayonza miners Association Ltd, says. The association has been extracting and trading gold in Lubaali mines since 2012.

According to Mr Ssenkusu, the association negotiated and got two location licenses covering 80 acres from Gemstone International Ltd, a Ugandan firm with a gold exploration license covering over 207 square kilometres in the area.

The two-year location license, which the association obtained in 2014, expired last year and has since been renewed for two more years.

He claimed that the Association sells its gold to Bank of Uganda, which he said deducts all the required taxes.

Unregulated gold mining here means activities have been done without or minimal supervision, which has left human rights abuses unattended to, says Ms Winnie Ngabiirwe, the executive director of Global Rights Alert (GRA), an advocacy NGO.

She says child labour and exploitation of miners, who operate without safety gear, has persisted in the gold mining areas because the major drive of investors in the area is profit without any regard to human rights standards.

The gold-rich sub counties of Kitumbi and Bukuya run an annual budget ranging from Shs 30 to 50 million per year, says the Mubende Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Charles Kiberu Nsubuga.

He says the gold industry has attracted a cocktail of businesses which include transportation, bars, general merchandise, hotels, prostitution, among others.

“The government has recognized that even if you teargas those people they cannot leave easily,” says Mr Nsubuga. He says before efforts are underway to legalise them.

Registration has been ongoing to identify who are operating there and organise them into Associations to enable government monitor their activities and collect the required payments, said the Mubende Chief accounting officer.

“The nation is losing revenue because the gold is not declared to Government,” Mr Nsubuga added.

He said the district which operates an annual budget of Shs 34 billion recently got Shs 4m from the national treasury as royalties from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.

The district has not directly got much revenue from the gold industry, Mr Nsubuga argues, with much of the money going into the pockets of individual miners.

Despite its shortcomings, Mr Nsubuga argues, the industry has a huge potential of escalating Mubende’s social-economic development, if it is regulated.

The district is already grappling with the negative social and environmental effects of the industry. Dead bodies of emigrant miners are often dumped at

Bukuya or Kassanda health centres at night and many unclaimed bodies have been buried at cemeteries, Mr Nsubuga said.

Many attracted to the area

At the mines are immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and other parts of the world. Many do not want their identities disclosed.

“I am here struggling to get money but do not disclose my identity because I told my family that I had flown abroad for Kyeyo,” a man told this newspaper.

Ms Rose Namate, 36, who was a housewife, left her family in Luweero district to try her luck in the mines.

“Much as I earn over Shs 2 million per month, mercury affects me. I feel intense pains in my eyes and in legs but I have nothing to do. I have to look for money,” says Ms Namate, a mother of six who has spent three years working in the mines.

She buys basins of rock particles believed to have gold deposits and sieves them before mixing in water and mercury to separate gold from impurities.

She hopes to quit the business and set up a super market in her home area after accumulating capital of Shs 15 million.

Case for unlicensed miners

Mr Richard Kaijuka, the vice chairperson Uganda chamber of mines and petroleum, argues that artisanal miners can operate alongside the licensed companies.

He notes, however, that they need to be well organized and regulated “so that they don’t interfere with the work of licensed companies.” Mr Kaijuka also chairs the Africa gold refinery.

The refinery, worth over $15 million, is located near Entebbe Airport and has capacity to process 200 Kilograms of gold and other precious metals per day.

According to Mr Kaijuka, the refined products will include gold bars with purity of 99.9%, small minted bars and granulates.

He says all the refined gold at the facility will have Uganda’s “certificate of Origin”.

Matters of law

The government passed the Mining Policy in 2001, the Mining Act in 2003 and Mining regulations in 2004.

The December 2015 Auditor general’s report on Regulation, Monitoring and promotion of the Mining sector noted that commercialised building materials and artisanal and small scale mining operations produced over 90% of the national mineral output and about 200,000 Ugandans employed remain informal and unregulated.

Whereas the number of issued mining licencees increased from 157 in 2002 to 818 (192%) in 2015, the inspection and monitoring coverage geared towards enforcing compliance with the prescribed conditions and the regulatory framework remained low at only 4%, according to the Auditor general.

“Most of the country’s mineral endowments remain unexploited and the sector’s contribution to GDP remains low at 0.3%”the report stated.

The report added that the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines(DGSM) has not been effective in administering the mining industry as issues of ASM, commercialized building materials, environmental, health and safety standards, remain inadequately addressed.

Under Section 98(1) and Section 103 of the Mining Act, royalties shall be paid on all minerals obtained or mined in the course of prospecting, exploration, mining or in the process of improving the grade or quality of mineral ores.

Section 70 of the Mining Regulations, 2004 requires all mineral rights holders, except prospecting licenses, to pay mineral rents upon grant of a license and thereafter on every anniversary.

“It was observed that Non-Tax Revenue (NTR) outstanding as at 30th September 2015 totaled to Shs 4.4 billion and this amount related to the period July 2011 to September 2015″the report stated.

Although the Mining Act 2003 provided for a penalty to be charged on unpaid royalties, and also for the Commissioner to prohibit any mineral right holders with unpaid royalties from disposal of minerals exploited from the sites for which they have a license, there was no evidence to show that penalties had been charged or that the Commissioner had taken necessary steps including follow ups to recover the unpaid NTR.

In response to the report, DGSM officials said the Ministry will establish a desk in Uganda Revenue Authority and use electronic system for quick reconciliation of mineral revenue. Previously, the Ministry has been using Manual based system.

In the meantime, Energy Minister Irene Muloni says the proposed mining policy, which is before cabinet provides for regulation of artisanal and small scale miners.

“This will prevent losses which government has been incurring from unregulated mining. The policy will also address conflicts in the mining sector, competing land uses and environmental concerns,” Muloni said.

The same policy should also ensure that Ms Namate and other artisanal miners are protected from mercury and other dangers as they go for gold.

This article was done with facilitation from the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME).

By Mark Keith Muhumuza

Entebbe — President Museveni has ordered the removal of royalties on gold in order to limit the amount of gold that is smuggled through Uganda unprocessed. He also said he wanted the tax lifted to encourage gold miners to take their gold the newly African Gold Refinery located in Entebbe. He said the tax was encouraging the smuggling of gold out of the country.

“Therefore I am going to remove that royalty. The people of Mubende should bring our gold to the refinery. You were scared of the tax but now we have removed it. The royalty for those in transit has also been removed. There will be no excuse for anybody not to bring their gold to the refinery,” President Museveni said at the launch of the African Gold Refinery on Monday in Entebbe.

President Museveni said that after several demands from industry players who want to see most gold refined and gold bars exported. Uganda at the end of the last financial year exported gold worth Shs700bn, the highest figure in over decade mostly because of the value addition made to the gold. It is now Uganda’s second largest export after coffee.

However, the auditor general queried why the government did not collect royalties worth Shs42bn from the gold that was exported out of the country. Any gold in transit is required to pay royalty fees of about 5 percent of the value. Also, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is required to collect royalties from all gold mined in Uganda. That money is distributed to the local governments where the gold is mined.

President Museveni said that artisanal miners, like those in Mubende do not file any returns and would rather sell the gold on the black market than pay the royalty.

Mr. Alain Goetz, a Belgian national and CEO of the African Gold Refinery said the move would allow the firm to invest more in Uganda and reduce the smuggling that affects their business.

“Those who smuggle jobs do not create jobs or even invest directly in this country like we have. Any incentive is an encouragement for them to move from the black market to the formal market,” he said on the sidelines of the launch.

The plant has the capacity to refine up to 300kgs of Gold per week and one tone in a month. The $15m facility employs about 75 people and produces gold bars. Alain also requested the government for an income tax incentive. The refinery already benefits from other incentives.

“Because of the importance we are attaching to this facility, the government has provided for manufacturing under the bond facility, which will help the licensed traders and importers to supply gold to the refinery for refining and export free of taxes. This will facilitate the competitiveness of the refinery,” he said.

Uganda is currently reviewing the mining policy and law to attract private investment and value addition. There are concerns around the refinery though especially the source of the gold. Of all gold refined in the last one year of operation, 90 per cent of it was not from Uganda yet import statistics don’t show any gold entries.

“Uganda’s gold sector is shrouded in mystery – you have to ask who is really benefitting. The gold trade was worth 200 million dollars to the Ugandan economy last year but there are no official figures on where the gold came from or where it is going,” said George Boden, Campaign Leader at Global Witness.

“This raises serious questions about whether gold that may have funded conflict and human rights abuses in Eastern DRC and South Sudan could be entering the international supply chain and whether the right taxes are being paid.”

INTERVIEWBy Mark Keith Muhumuza

In January this year, Hima Cement started construction of a $40m (Shs145 billion) grinding plant in Tororo District that will increase their cement production from 0.9 metrictonnes a year to 1.9 million metric tonnes by June 2018. There are also new players in the market such as Simba Cement and Kampala Cement. Daily Monitor’sMark Keith Muhumuza talked to Mr Daniel Petterson, the country chief executive officer, Hima Cement Uganda, on what this increased production means to the economy. Below are the excerpts:

You are making an entry into Tororo District where there has been one major producer, Tororo Cement. What does your entry signal to the competition?

I believe that we work in a robust way. We develop our people and run a company with Ugandans. We believe in working with Ugandans to increase our production.

We know the trade as a leader of cement production and concrete in the world. So I think we are strong. For me, I know what we need to do here.

The competition must talk for themselves but we do believe that they are strong.

Why would you increase the production capacity considering the slowdown in economic activity that has affected the construction sector?

This new grinding facility will bring on board about 1 million tonnes, which is doubling our capacity. The construction sector in Uganda is rebounding as shown by the sustained increase in demand for cement; currently at 10 per cent per year.

Our capacity expansion drive aims at meeting this demand not only within Uganda but the regional market as well.

The construction sector is expanding and we are also ready to supply cement to the Standard Gauge Railway. All these needed increased capacity.

But why the choice of setting up in Tororo?

We have a strong position in the west so now we are taking a strong position in eastern Uganda. This would give us a good footprint in this country.

The second most important factor is that there are raw materials here such as the pozzolana, which we also have in the western part of Uganda.

This is also a strong base for us to export to South Sudan. It is close to where we have our limestone exploration licences in Karamoja.

How much limestone have you so far discovered and when will the mining process begin?

This is a grinding station. So it is the end face of the industrial process. The clinker is where you take the limestone and burn it.

For that, you have to invest about $150m (Shs536 billion). So you need to make sure that the limestone you need is available.

That is why you have to do heavy exploration before you can set up a clinker line and then you realise that there is not enough limestone. The process of limestone exploration has been ongoing for over a year.

We are now in the final stages of our exploration process. I am optimistic when it is done we will take a final decision and move forward.

Importing clinker is still ongoing by several companies in the market. Also, you have been on the record saying that the clinker imports are making locally produced clinker not competitive. What is your proposal to the government?

For us, this is our business model. If you go to Hima plant, we do not import clinker. That is not how we operate. We believe in value addition of limestone.

We take limestone and then we add value to it and get clinker. Unfortunately, there is no limestone in Tororo.

The limestone is in the northeast, which is why we are exploring for the limestone in that area. Our view as LafargeHolcm is to add value to all raw materials.

We are having discussions with the government on the issue of clinker imports.

What is important is that if the government has a policy of value addition, it is important that the policies are supporting that ambition so that you are not supporting imports while you are placing royalties on the limestone and kaolin that is mined. You have to look at that very carefully, otherwise you will discourage the heavy investments that support value addition.

How will this new investment impact the final price of cement?

We will almost have double the capacity of what the demand is in the market.

We are now about four players in the market, Kampala Cement came in last year and Simba Cement.

We also have imports coming into the country. That means there is more competition and more capacity than the demand.

I can only say that prices will definitely go down.

Cement prices in Uganda still remain relatively high compared to Kenya and Tanzania. Why is that so?

It is a cost factor because this is an inland market. Whatever you are bringing in like some of the competition bringing in clinker they have to transport that from Mombasa all the way to Uganda.

At the Hima plant where we use 40 per cent petroleum products, we have to transport it all the way from Mombasa to Kasese. That is about 1,500 kilometres.

The costs of production are high in Uganda and that for sure is a key factor in the final price. I was very encouraged to hear from the government for the policy of lowering tariffs on electricity for the heavy industry. This is brilliant.

At the end of the day, the competitive advantage that Uganda has is water. There is a lot of water and rightly dams being built but the costs of power is still high.

A lower tariff will encourage investments that will need the power.

So that is a great policy. On average this grinding facility alone will need 10MW.

Daniel Petterson

Mr Daniel Petterson joined the LafargeHolcim in 2006 and has worked for the group in France, DRC and South Africa. He became CEO of the Uganda Unit in 2013. Hima Cement is part of the LafargeHolcim, one of the world’s largest cement producers with a presence in about 60 countries. Hima Cement is the second largest cement producer in Uganda after Tororo Cement.