Issued by: WMC Africa
Several hundred small and medium business owners were recently put in a better position to win contracts along the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) after completing a capacity building training programme conducted by Stanbic Business Incubator Limited (SBIL).
The pipeline will pass through Hoima, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kyankwanzi, Gomba, Mubende, Lwengo, Sembabule, Kyotera, and Rakai districts before entering Tanzania.
“This is one way of ensuring Uganda’s economic growth is realised, and the key to this is supporting local enterprises by building their capacity to ensure that they can compete for contracts to supply Uganda’s oil and gas sector,” said Tony Otoa, SBIL’s chief executive.
A total of 130 SME owners were trained on practical business development, linkages to financial services through Stanbic Bank, and business formalisation by representatives from the National Social Security Fund, Uganda Revenue Authority, and the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, among others.
Speaking at the end of the eight-day training for participants from Bunyoro sub-region at Kabalega Resort Hotel in Hoima, John Tumusiime, the Hoima District Commercial Officer said: “Business people will be easily connected when organised in associations. As SMEs, you need to uphold good quality and high standards for all your products in order to capture the market.”
Following the announcement of the final investment decision for the development of the oil fields in western Uganda by the international oil companies in February 2022, a partnership was signed between the Petroleum Authority of Uganda and SBIL to provide skills training to small business owners operating along the proposed pipeline.
The training is one of the three main components of the MSME Business Linkages Project being implemented by the Petroleum Authority of Uganda with support from the African Development Bank.
Speaking at the signing of the memorandum of understanding in 2022, PAU executive director Ernest Rubondo said: “Taking advantage of these opportunities requires adequate preparation and businesses need to demonstrate that they have the necessary capacity to meet the needs of the sector. The objective of this business development consultancy is therefore to build the capacity of MSMEs along the EACOP pipeline.”
