This is definitely the way forward for African countries. It should not be that countries with the resources benefit the least from them. African countries need to invest in development of skills that would enable them to deliver the Value Add activities

It was a shallow comment by a president who who secretly negotiated the terms of the Oil Exploration and Production. the terms odf the deal remain a secret. Question number one: How much signing bonus was paid (not reported per standard prsctice), What happened to it? Question number two: Uganda petroleum fiscal regime is Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). How much royalty will the Producer Pay at the top and in what form - Cash or oil? How will the Profit Oil be shared - in Barrels of Oil or Cash equivalent? Is the Producer restricted from selling his oil in the international market? There are many intricacies in the Uganda Minerals / Petroleum Legislation and the PSA which make the president's statement empty unless the audience is privy to the letter of the agreemenrt. further what is taking Uganda so long in establishing a National Oil Corporation to oversee the terms of the agreement and to participate in the Oil activity and consume technological know-how transfer. Most countries have a National Oil Company way before exploration comences = even if they do not have potential oil discoveries eg- India, China (CINOPET), Japan (JNOC) etc. P.S. Why did DRC cancel the concession of Tullow and or Heritage Oil who had concessions on the other side of Uganda in the DRC? Mr. Prseident beware the company you keep - some of these are wolves in sheeps clothing!!!

Its about time someone sees the reality. Africa should by now understand that exporting raw materials has really not changed our lot and never will. Only when we develop the infrastructure and produce the finished good will we be in a position to hire our people, demand what we want for the things we own. Africa has enriched the rest of the world. Its time we turn to ourselves. I hope the rest of the continents will now take a break and reformulate their policies so that all countries do the same. Africa cannot get any poorer than it is for stopping to ship raw materials. We need to focus internally and begin trading with each other. We have the market as everybody else sells to us materials that more likely than not originated from Africa.

It is corruption stupid. Refining oil in Uganda wont solve the corrosive corruption. Africa needs clean, uncorrupt and democratic governments that accountable to the citizens - not oil refineries.

For a change, Mr Museveni, I agree with you. Africa should not be in any hurry to run out of oil. There are better uses for oil than burning it. Make sure you get your barrel's worth for any you sell. And get as much of your fuel as you can from renewable resources. Most of your troublesome aquatic weeds can be made into ethanol, and some into food.

As the person who coined the phrase, "Trade not Aid", Museveni once again is on to a good thing. He has come out and said, without equivocation, that Mugabe must go if he loses on 27 June, one of the few current African leaders with the cojones to do so.

In 1957, the GDP of the newly independent Ghana & Malaysia was the same. Now, Malaysia's GDP is n times that of Ghana (where n is large and positive).

Africa should look to partner with countries/organisations that will help her exploit her vast mineral wealth while allowing the local population to reap the benefits of the riches emanating from their soil.

The days of Shell committing environmental crimes in Niger Delta are OVER. If organisations are not willing to adhere to what African countries want, then African countries should look elsewhere. They have the resource, they can therefore pick and choose who they should partner with.

Yar'Adua has set a good example by allowing the Ogoni to decide who gets to replace Shell - it's about BLOODY time the Ogoni got to decide who should help them reap the benefits of the black curse.