Overview:
Uganda targets a 7.9 percent mining GDP contribution by 2030, but experts say regulatory bottlenecks and lack of auditors block progress.
KAMPALA, Uganda — Structural loopholes and weak institutional capacity are draining Uganda of its mining wealth, experts warned at a policy forum, calling for immediate governance fixes to save the sector.
The warning comes as the country tries to execute an aggressive plan to lift mining’s economic contribution from 2.2 percent of gross domestic product to 7.9 percent by 2030. Participants at the Uganda Chamber of Energy and Minerals roundtable said the target is impossible without aggressive regulatory repairs.
“Uganda’s mining sector is leaking wealth, but the solution is not cutting taxes — it is closing legal loopholes and building institutional capacity,” said Susan Watundu, a professor at Makerere University Business School.
Watundu said policies like raw export bans and a 30 percent corporate tax rate fail because the government lacks specialized transfer pricing auditors and domestic smelting infrastructure to back them up.
The forum targeted severe administrative bottlenecks under the Mining and Minerals Act of 2022, notably prolonged licensing delays and environmental approval backlogs that leave major projects in limbo.
Humphrey Asiimwe, chief executive officer of the chamber, said the event at Kabira Country Club was designed to turn talk into policy enforcement.
“We are not here simply to discuss what could be; we are here to validate what must be done, and to build the consensus that will drive implementation at the highest levels of government and industry,” Asiimwe said, noting that Uganda’s diverse mineral base continues to underperform.
Fixing these regulatory holes is critical as the global green energy transition accelerates. Uganda holds rich reserves of gold, iron ore, graphite and rare earth elements, but faces stiff international competition.
Susan Nakanwagi, a consultant for the Training Equipping Nurturing to Thrive grant initiative, warned that Uganda will miss out on a global critical minerals market expected to top $770 billion by 2040 unless it isolates mineral promotion from regulation.
To help close these operational gaps, the European Union and the German government are funding a 1.25 million euro governance program through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.
Henry Mukasa, project manager for the sustainable mining initiative, said the capital will target the sector’s most fragile points.
“By investing 1.25 million euros into improving governance, formalizing our crucial artisanal mining workforce, and driving domestic value addition, we are breaking down existing bottlenecks,” Mukasa said.
The forum validated five emergency reforms for submission to government authorities. The list includes a unified “one-stop” mineral investment window at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to cut through red tape, alongside new traceability standards to secure regional mineral trade.