We are Open!

Over the last few months, the world has been hit by the COVID pandemic. Most of the world went into lockdown. Airlines were grounded because nations could not allow them entry into their countries. International business came to a standstill. Supply chains were affected as factories were closed. When the lockdown started we thought it […]

UNRA’s Local Content Drive

Last month Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) put out a tender for consultancy services for feasibility studies and detailed engineering design of six selected national roads. The most amazing part of this tender is that three of the six lots are reserved for national/local consultants. That is one hundred percent of the project not thirty […]

Let’s welcome restoration of Israel Uganda ties

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Uganda this month. This visit comes barely four years since he last visited Uganda in July 2016. This is the first Israeli prime minister to visit Uganda. To do it twice in four years speaks volumes to the importance of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit. Some have read into it that […]

Installation of Kawanda Transformer

Over the last twelve months we have been on a project for installation of a 40 MVA transformer at Kawanda 132/220kV substation. We would like to thank God that we were able to successfully install the 40 MVA transformer and connect it to the national grid last month. I would like to recap the journey […]

Boosting local content in industrialization

A few weeks ago, I proposed that Uganda needs to industrialize to pick up the surplus electricity generation that we shall experience when Karuma and Isimba Hydro Power plants come on the grid this year. Industrialization requires capital and it requires ideas especially. These are the things that entrepreneurs bring to the table. Entrepreneurs are […]

What to do with Uganda’s electricity surplus

In 2007, Uganda had an electricity supply deficit. Businessmen rioted because of load shedding as they needed electricity to run their businesses. The government was touched and came up with a strategy to boost electricity generation in the country. In the short term, thermal generation was deployed to bridge the electricity generation gap as the […]

How to address electricity tower vandalism

A few weeks ago we suffered a national black out in Uganda due to collapsed towers of the electricity transmission lines. The towers succumbed after suffering vandalism through stealing of tower members. This vandalism is not new to the electricity sector. Conductors and tower members are stolen and sold on the local market. We have […]

Are donors for local content or not?

Two months ago, I was contacted by a representative of Kodar Energomantaza (Kodar) over a job opportunity in Uganda. Kodar is based in Serbia. After I shared my CV with them we traded a number of emails with the representative of the company. They finally told me that they had won a contract in Uganda […]

Effects of eliminating consultants in road development

On May 30th 2018 an article appeared in the red pepper about the savings that Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) had accumulated by eliminating external consultants from a number of projects. My first reaction was that red pepper is a tabloid and whatever they write is not considered as truth. However, given its circulation, the […]

Lets welcome Kampala Jinja Expressway PPP

This week is an incredible moment for the infrastructure sector. UNRA advertised an Expression of Interest to Design, Build, Finance, Operate, maintain and transfer of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway (KJE) PPP project. Many people will wonder why this excites us infrastructure professionals. This is because this a big mile stone and a precedent to private sector […]