Uganda: 305 SMEs Graduate As Government Pushes Ethical Practices in Oil and Gas Industry

16 December 2025
Nile Post (Kampala)
By Catherine Nakato

Small and medium-sized enterprises have been urged to adopt professional and ethical business practices if they are to survive and benefit from the country's oil and gas sector.

This follows concerns by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development that many SMEs fail because they are run as informal family businesses. The call was made as over 300 enterprises graduated from an industrial skills enhancement program aimed at preparing Ugandans for a competitive oil and gas market.

The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Irene Batebe, has attributed the failure of many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the oil and gas sector to poor management practices.

Batebe says most SMEs collapse because their owners run them as simple family businesses instead of professionally structured entities that can compete in a highly technical and regulated industry.

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Batebe has also called upon SMEs to uphold ethical business practices, noting that this is key to ensuring that Uganda's oil and gas resources translate into real national value.

The ministry further revealed that government is working on expanding the use of natural gas as a clean cooking fuel, with plans to distribute it across East Africa.

Remarks come as 305 small and medium-sized enterprises graduated from a cohort at the Industrial Enhancement Centre.

Some of the graduates say the training and education acquired will help them improve operations, including enhancing testing equipment and improving the quality of oil-related products.

"This will help me in improving my skills of operations the testing equipment in the quality of oil" Nkabirwa Fred - graduate

The General Manager of TotalEnergies EP Uganda, Philippe Groueix, described the program as highly impactful, saying it is playing a critical role in skilling Ugandans to compete effectively in the oil and gas market.

" I hope to see more graduates next year , it creates more competitiveness in the oil and gas sector " Philippe Groueix

Read the original article on Nile Post.

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