EPRC’S PRINCIPAL RESEARCH FELLOW-LAWRENCE BATEGEKA SPEAKS ABOUT UGANDA’S NEW OIL LAW Earlier this month, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law the “Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act 2013.” This bill establishes how Uganda will govern its new oil resources and clears the way for what is certain to be extensive commercial production. Passage of the new bill also ends an extended period of public scrutiny about the new law, during which the international community and Ugandan civil society groups expressed grave concerns about transparency in the sector and future use of oil revenues. Lawrence Bategeka, Acting Principal Research Fellow at EPRC -Uganda’s leading economic policy think tank presents his views on the implications of signing the new bill into law by responding to some questions posed by Anne W. Kamau Africa Research Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings institution. Brookings re...

Maria Kiwanuka Minister of Finance The Uganda Government attaches great importance to the optimal management of oil resources right from exploration, through production and investment of the proceeds, said Maria Kiwanuka, the Minister of Finance. It will, therefore, insist on transparency and accountability as well as balancing of interests to ensure sustainable and inclusive management of petroleum resources as part of the transformation process of the Ugandan economy. To promote transparency, the Government has already put in place a number of oil policies, laws and institutions to ensure prudent management of the oil and gas resources. In particular, the Parliament has already discussed or is in the process of discussing the following legislation; Petroleum Exploration and Production; Petroleum Refining, Gas Processing and Conversion, Transportation and Storage; The Public Finance Bill 2012, which contains the petroleum revenue management framework. Kiwanuka e...

Oil & Gas conference held 23-24 January 2013, Serena -Kampala hotel By EPRC The Norwegian ambassador to Uganda has said countries in the East Africa region need to safeguard the oil revenues from financial mismanagement if they are to gain from the nascent industry. Speaking at the closing of the oil and gas forum that ended on Thursday in Kampala, Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther said that the region was fast becoming a playground for petroleum industry heavy weights. “There are needs for safeguarding the environment, for regulations and for convincing energy firms that their billions dollar investments are safe from financial mismanagement as well as political instability across the borders,” he said.  “It is no secret. Corruption is rampant within most countries of this region.” Using Uganda as an example, the ambassador said the petroleum sector in the country and the region at large will require “huge amounts of foreign investment. But as the former US secretary of...

By EPRC Stakeholders in the oil sector attending a regional oil and gas management conference in Kampala, Uganda, have emphasized transparency in revenue management from oil and gas resources. One of the ways that governments can require oil companies to be transparent is for them to list on the stock exchanges. However, even if most of these companies list elsewhere they operate in the developed world, they do not do so in Africa. “We need to be honest about the accountability of oil and gas resources. If you want oil companies like Tullow to be accountable to the people, why not let the public own shares in Tullow,” asked Dr. Ezra Suruma the former minister of Finance.  Jimmy Mugerwa, the General manager, Tullow Oil Uganda, was hesitant to comment on when they would list on the different regions’s stock exchanges although it has been announced that they will list. According to Dr. Suruma, while there is talk of demanding for transparency and accountability in the...

Participants at the oil and gas forum in Kampala have called upon governments in the East African region to combine efforts in the management of the newly found oil reserves.  Experts from Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania argued that the region needs a collective oil and gas master plan to effectively utilize the resource to combine advantages and save costs.       While opening the conference on Wednesday, Uganda’s Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka said that Uganda was ready to corporate with others. “I confirm that Uganda will be ready to incorporate a regional dimension to our petroleum strategy. Such a strategy calls for informed discussions based on research and evidence on how best to efficiently and effectively manage petroleum resources at the regional level,” she said.  The participants noted that the exploitation of oil and gas in one East African country creates opportunities and problems that affect the entire region which ca...

Dr Sarah Ssewanyana is the Executive Director of the Economic Policy Research Centre based in Kampala which organized an oil and gas management forum from 23 rd to 24 th January 2013. The forum, with a theme management for inclusive and sustainable development of the oil sector brought together experts in the industry. Dr Ssewanyana shares her thoughts on the conference and oil sector in the region with Grace Natabaalo.   What role is EPRC playing in the regional dialogue and research to advise the government on how to manage revenues? EPRC in collaboration with the Kenya's leading policy think tank - Kenya Institute for Public Policy and Research Analysis- and Brookings Institution's African Growth Initiative has organized this Forum that has brought together the relevant stakeholders in the oil and gas sector. As part of this Forum, the Centre has produced a scoping paper on the state of art of the oil and gas. The Centre through its mandate is encouraging...