Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) together with Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), are organizing the first joint Oil and Gas Conference scheduled for 25th November 2021 in Dar es Salaam. Dubbed Tanzania – Uganda Oil and Gas Symposium (TUOG) the event will assemble stakeholders from Tanzania and Uganda to strategize on the involvement of the private sector of the two countries in the execution of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.
It is expected that the 1,443km crude oil export pipeline that will transport Uganda’s crude oil from Kabaale to Tanga in Tanzania will bring massive opportunities for the Private Sector including; transportation, securities, food and beverage, hotel accommodation and catering, Human Resource Management, office supplies, Civil works, Finance, the supply of construction materials and many more services.
In Uganda, the pipeline will cover 296km across 10 districts and 25 sub-counties while the stretch in Tanzania covers 1,147km and traverses 8 regions and 25 districts.
The project has also reserved contracts for locals including fuel supply, land surveying, clearing and forwarding, crane hire, locally available construction materials, civil works, environmental studies and impact assessment and ICT services.
While speaking at the Hybrid launch in Dar es Saalam on Thursday, The High Commissioner of Uganda, Ambassodor Richard Kabonero revealed that the Symposium will answer some of the areas Uganda’s private sector may want to know namely: Social license: Community buy in for projects by locals person in Kikuube or Kakumiro Districts, operational minefields: Navigating the regulatory terrain: taxation and policy provision for national participation and the opportunities like contracting and subcontracting, joint ventures among others.
The Chairman of the Private Sector Foundation- Uganda, Dr Elly Karuhanga, speaking virtually urged the private sector in both countries to take up the opportunities the EACOP project, that’ll be worth $3.5 billion, presents. He said; “If our private sector does not organize well, the foreigners will come and take up most of the work. We cannot wait for the [TUOG] symposium to meet our private sector counterparts in Tanzania to liase and plan on how to take advantage of the opportunities the EACOP project has presented to us.”
Francis Nanai the Executive Director of TPSF said that “in order to ensure that locals are well prepared to tap the benefits availed by the strategic project, TPSF and PSFU found it important to organize the Tanzania – Uganda Oil and Gas Symposium that will provide a platform for the private sector of the two countries to network, understand the industry opportunities and challenges, discuss areas of cooperation and showcase their capacities through experience –sharing, and interact with public sector actors on legal and policy matters that govern the industry, in both Uganda and Tanzania.”
TUOG is organized with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Uganda High Commission in Tanzania and the Ministry of Energy in Tanzania. The theme of the symposium is “Enhancing Private Sector Participation in the Oil & Gas Sector.”
TUOG seeks to provide a platform for networking, learning and sharing experiences and opportunities with the oil & gas industry projects, identify key strategies that can enable partnerships and joint ventures between Ugandan and Tanzania private sector actors, facilitate public-private sector dialogue on issues that affect implementation of local content in the oil &gas industry projects, and explore other avenues of collaboration for a sustainable Private Sector development of the two countries.
This private sector led meeting will be a hybrid event which is expected to gather in person over 200 high-level private sector officials from Tanzania and Uganda and more than 2000 participants will follow the discussion virtually.
The expected outcomes of the Tanzania Uganda Symposium are; Increased private sector awareness of the legal, policy and regulatory frameworks for oil & gas in Uganda and Tanzania, creation of synergies and areas of cooperation between Uganda and Tanzania private sector companies and Definition of ways and strategies of leveraging the opportunities presented by oil and gas industry for the benefit of the people of Tanzania and Uganda.
Tanzania and Uganda enjoy a long-standing, deep, historical diplomatic and economic relationship for several decades that has been strengthened by recent developments in the oil & gas industry, principally the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project. It is estimated that during just the construction phase of EACOP, Uganda and Tanzania will see an increase of over 60% in Foreign Direct Investment, and that the investment in the oil and gas projects shall total up to USD 20 billion, with the EACOP investment alone, at over USD 3.5 billion.
This symposium will be first one of the very many avenues of collaboration that Tanzania and Uganda will enjoy going forward.
