African Church Information Service
Crespo Sebunya
24 June 2002
Kampala — Uganda has approached World Bank and Nordic Development Fund to help finance the five year $25m mineral sector development programme.
According to a government report released recently, donors were briefed on programme design, which involves capacity building in the sector to assist 500,000 artisan miners improve their capabilities.
The programme will avail extensive geological information to eight selected sites where foreign investors took concessions. Uganda investment authority has registered 20 investors, and hopes to inject $210m into the mining sector.
Five sites in west are Kigezi gold field, Ankole tin field, Bujweju gold field, Mubende-Bunyoro granite zone and Kilembe mines.
One in the east is Busia gold field, two northern sites are Karamoja region and West Nile region and Central- Northern Uganda, where reconnaissance survey indicate occurrence of several mineral types.
The government has revised Mining Act to allow private ownership and further allows them rights to convert exploration licences into three-year leases. Reforms also include the 1997 Income Tax, which allows full remittances of mining income and investors exempted from import duties for mining equipment.
Major western firms that got concessions include Catalyst Corporation of Canada, which took 100 percent interest in Kaabong gold in Karamoja and Oslo International, which took an adjacent one at Lopedo. Gold Empire, another Canadian firm, has 22 concessions, covering an indeterminate area.
Others are New Ensigns Resources, affiliated to Irish-based Glencar Mining plc with four permits in southeast Uganda and International Roraima Corporation, which has 20 concessions with 17 belonging to South Africa's Iscor. All these concessions are in gold exploration, though other minerals to be explored include zinc, iron ore, phosphates and diamonds.
Mineral sector, which in 1971 was number three forex earner, is recovering.
Budget document shows that in 2001 Uganda earned $74.4m from gold, cobalt and petroleum exports. Minerals account for 16.4% of Ugandan export revenue of $451m.
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