Stanbic Bank, Uganda National Oil Company in partnership to strengthen local content

Issued by: WMC Africa

Uganda National Oil Company's chief executive officer, Proscovia Nabbanja (left) and Stanbic's chief executive, Patrick Mweheire in Kampala
Uganda National Oil Company’s chief executive officer, Proscovia Nabbanja (left), signs a memorandum of understanding to promote local content in partnership with the Stanbic Bank Business Incubator. Looking on is Stanbic’s chief executive, Patrick Mweheire. Photo: Courtesy/WMC Africa

Stanbic Bank Uganda, through its business incubator, has entered a partnership with the Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc) to promote national content through capacity building.

The program will offer business training for entrepreneurs, knowledge and sector information sharing, and enterprise development. The two entities signed a memorandum of understanding in Kampala today outlining the partnership.

Speaking at the ceremony, Patrick Mweheire, Stanbic Bank Uganda’s chief executive said: “We are pleased to be partnering with UNOC in this critical initiative that aims to facilitate participation and development of national content in the oil and gas sector. Oil is a game changer in many economies and the only way we can benefit as Ugandans is if we have as many local companies participating as possible.”

Mr Mweheire added: “As a way of ensuring that Ugandan companies participate in oil and gas activities, we established the business incubator with the aim of reaching as many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as possible across the nation and continue to support their growth and development.

“The incubator trains and provides them with soft and hard skills necessary to improve their business operations and compete more effectively in the market place. It also deliberately prepares them to leverage the upcoming opportunities in Uganda’s emerging oil and gas sector.”

Mr Mweheire further added that the partnership will “develop and implement a series of initiatives on national content through the Stanbic Business Incubator Centre and also cooperate in the development of national content programmes.”

Proscovia Nabbanja, the chief executive officer at the Uganda National Oil Company said the partnership will provide “the necessary training and information on the opportunities for local businesses in the oil and gas sector.”

Unoc, Ms Nabbanja added, “will provide subject matter experts to support the development of businesses on the enterprise development programme and also provide support to the Stanbic Business Incubator Centre’s training and research activities in Enterprise Development.

“It is important that local companies are kept abreast of the developments in such a dynamic industry to help them develop business models that are adaptable. This is fundamental if they are to remain relevant in such a competitive market place,”

The Stanbic Business Incubator will also provide training to SMEs recommended by Unoc and avail its centres across the country for use by Unoc in its national content programme, said Stanbic’s head of business development, Tony Otoa.

About Stanbic Bank Uganda

Stanbic Bank Uganda is a member of the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets. Standard Bank Group reported total assets of R2.1 trillion ($148 billion) as at 31 December 2018, while its market capitalization was at R289 billion ($20 billion).

The group has direct, on-the-ground representation in 20 African countries. Standard Bank Group has 1,221 branches and 8,815 ATMs in Africa, making it one of the largest banking networks on the continent. It provides global connections backed by deep insights into the countries where it operates.

Stanbic Bank Uganda provides the full spectrum of financial services. Its Corporate & Investment Banking division serves a wide range of requirements for banking, finance, trading, investment, risk management and advisory services. Corporate & Investment Banking delivers this comprehensive range of products and services relating to: investment banking; global markets; and global transactional products and services.

Stanbic Bank Uganda personal & business banking unit offers banking and other financial services to individuals and small-to-medium enterprises. This unit serves the increasing need among Africa’s small business and individual customers for banking products that can meet their shifting expectations and growing wealth.

For further information go to www.stanbicbank.co.ug

Issued by WMC Africa on behalf of Stanbic Bank Uganda. For more information contact:

Sharon Kakai, WMC Africa, Email: [email protected]; Mobile: +256782265153.

About the Uganda National Oil Company

The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) is a limited liability company solely owned by the Government of Uganda. UNOC is mandated to handle the Government’s commercial interests in the petroleum sector and to ensure that the resource s exploited in a sustainable manner.

The company has two wholly owned subsidiaries namely Uganda Refinery Holding Company Limited (URHC) and National Pipeline Company (NPC). URHC will hold a participating interest of up to 40% in the refinery and its infrastructure, and manage the development of Kabaale Industrial Park. NPC will hold a participating interest of up to 15% in the 1445-kilometre East African Crude Oil Pipeline on behalf of the government of Uganda. It will also manage the development and operations of terminals and pipelines.

Activities across the petroleum value chain are upstream (licensing, exploration, appraisal), midstream (transportation, refining, gas processing), and downstream (distribution, marketing, sales).

For details go to www.unoc.co.ug

Contact

Sarah Banage, UNOC head of corporate affairs, Email: [email protected]; Mobile: +256781127260