Mineral boom exposes gaps in Uganda’s extractive sector reporting

Uganda’s mineral industry recorded a sharp increase in production and export earnings in the 2023/24 financial year, but the boom has exposed persistent weaknesses in how companies disclose their operations and payments to government.

The value of mineral production rose by 87 percent to Shs464.7 billion during the year, up from Shs248.5 billion in 2022/23, according to the fifth Uganda Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (UGEITI) Report.

However, only four of the 20 extractive companies selected for revenue reconciliation submitted signed reporting templates, raising concerns about the completeness of information used to assess the sector’s contribution to the economy.

The 16 companies that did not submit signed templates accounted for 98.5 percent of the reconciliation scope, according to the report compiled by MOORE Insight for Uganda EITI.

The findings come as Uganda seeks to improve transparency in the mining, oil and gas sectors and attract more investment into an industry that has expanded rapidly in recent years.

Members of the UGEITI Multi-Stakeholder Group met on Thursday to reconcile figures captured in the report ahead of its official launch, expected at the beginning of September.

Mr Edgar Mutungi, the Senior Technical Officer for Data Analysis at the UGEITI Secretariat, said reconciliation is intended to establish a more accurate picture of money generated by extractive companies and payments made to government.

“The initial revenues I have showed you of 663 billion are the wider collected revenues, but when we undertake a reconciliation process … we come up with a figure which now gives us a more accurate and in-depth picture of the revenues that were submitted or collected that year,” he said.

The report puts total extractive-sector flows at Shs663.2 billion in 2023/24, up from Shs530.17 billion the previous financial year.

After reconciliation of company disclosures against government records, however, the figure stood at Shs599.2 billion.

Government revenue accounted for the bulk of the wider extractive-sector flows at Shs606.4 billion, or 91.42 percent. Social and environmental expenditure amounted to Shs55.7 billion, while subnational payments stood at Shs1.2 billion.

The reconciliation exercise identified TotalEnergies EP Uganda as the largest contributor, with Shs195.2 billion, representing 33 percent of reconciled revenues.

Hima Cement contributed Shs117.2 billion, followed by Tororo Cement with Shs101.4 billion and CNOOC Uganda Limited with Shs101.2 billion. Uganda National Oil Company contributed Shs29.9 billion, while other companies accounted for Shs54.4 billion.

Pay-As-You-Earn was the largest revenue stream at Shs191.9 billion, followed by withholding tax at Shs144.4 billion, VAT at Shs88.9 billion and customs payments at Shs80.1 billion.

Despite the rise in revenues, the sector’s contribution to the wider economy remains relatively small.

UGEITI reports that mining, oil and gas—grouped under the mining-sector classification used by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics—accounted for 1.28 percent of GDP in 2023/24, down from 1.47 percent in 2022/23.

Its share of total employment was only 0.027 percent, marginally up from 0.026 percent, while its contribution to total exports fell from 0.001 percent to 0.0004 percent.

At the same time, its contribution to government revenue almost doubled from 1.13 percent to 2.18 percent.

Mr Mutungi said the figures should be interpreted within the classification used by UBOS.

“Contribution of the mining sector to GDP was actually 1.28 percent for the year 2024,” he said.

The sharp increase in mineral production was largely driven by iron ore, whose production value rose to Shs289.3 billion, accounting for 62.25 percent of total mineral production.

Limestone followed at Shs102.9 billion, or 22.13 percent, while pozzolana contributed Shs23.2 billion.

This marked a significant shift from the previous year, when limestone was the leading mineral, accounting for 39 percent of production value, followed by iron ore at 37 percent.

Artisanal and small-scale miners were the largest single contributor to reported production, accounting for Shs151.7 billion, or 32.6 percent.

They were followed by Sino Minerals Investments Company Limited at Shs122.9 billion, Hima Cement at Shs83.8 billion and Tororo Cement at Shs41.2 billion.

Mr Mutungi said the latest assessment captures licensed artisanal and small-scale miners following changes to the mining regulatory framework.

“Following the new law, the mining law, ASM is now with licenses,” he said.

The rise in production was accompanied by a sharp increase in mineral export earnings.

Mineral exports increased from Shs33.6 billion in 2022/23 to Shs119.2 billion in 2023/24, representing an increase of about 255 percent.

Iron ore emerged as the leading export category in the latest assessment. The report records total mineral exports at about 9.7 billion kilogrammes.

Mr Mutungi said UGEITI combines information submitted by companies with data from government agencies to establish the country’s mineral export position.

“Our exports for that year were at 9.7 billion… And when it comes to value, it’s 119 billion that was exported in the financial year,” he said.

The increase comes against a government policy of restricting the export of raw minerals, with only selected minerals currently being exported.

The previous assessment had reported 96.6 million kilogrammes of mineral exports, with vermiculite, perlite and chlorites, together with iron ore, accounting for 83 percent of export value.

UGEITI, however, says the latest assessment highlights the need for stronger disclosure requirements across the extractive sector.

Of the 20 companies selected for reconciliation, 13 submitted reporting templates, but only four provided signed templates. Government revenue reporting, by contrast, had full coverage through certified submissions from the Uganda Revenue Authority.

The initiative is calling for reforms to make EITI reporting mandatory for relevant companies and government entities.

It also recommends greater disclosure of project-level capital and operating costs, extractive contracts, beneficial ownership information and audited financial statements.

UGEITI wants Uganda to strengthen reporting on environmental and social expenditure, develop a framework for disclosure of greenhouse-gas emissions and complete and update the mining cadastre.

The findings therefore present a sector experiencing rapid growth but still struggling to match that growth with equally strong transparency systems.

While mineral production rose nearly twofold and export earnings more than tripled, the sector’s contribution to GDP remained modest and substantial gaps persisted in company reporting.

For UGEITI, closing those disclosure gaps will be critical if Uganda is to turn the growing value of its mineral resources into greater public accountability and a clearer economic return.