Uganda pushes steel self-reliance as Museveni opens Namanve mill

KAMPALA— Uganda’s largest steel manufacturer has commissioned a new phase of its rolling mill complex outside the capital, saying it will begin producing more of its intermediate steel inputs domestically rather than importing them — a shift the government has cast as part of a broader drive to industrialise an economy long dependent on unprocessed exports.

President Yoweri Museveni inaugurated Phase IV Level 2 of Roofings Group’s rolling mill complex on Tuesday at Namanve, in Mukono District east of Kampala. The company had until now imported many of its intermediate products, mainly from Japan, and processed them locally.

Roofings has been achieving about 54 percent local value addition, according to Museveni, who said the company was now moving to manufacture some of those inputs itself. The firm’s turnover has grown to about 1.2 trillion shillings (roughly $325m), he said, with exports of about $70m.

The commissioning comes as governments across East Africa press manufacturers to add value at home, part of a wider continental push to move away from exporting raw commodities — a pattern many African policymakers trace to the colonial era. Museveni framed Uganda’s steel ambitions in those terms, arguing that the country’s iron ore reserves, some of about 65 percent purity, gave it grounds to build a competitive industry rather than import finished steel.

Central to that argument, he said, was securing a large regional market to make local production viable. “A strong market makes it easy for wealth creators to succeed,” Museveni said. “All they want is a market, and by having a big and sure market, we will create jobs and wealth.”

The president also pointed to the plant’s foreign partners as a model of cooperation, noting that technology and products were sourced from Italy and Japan while Chinese firms took part in construction.

Sanjay Tanna, the minister of trade, industry and cooperatives, said Uganda’s industrial electricity tariffs were now among the most competitive in the region, crediting recent cuts for improving conditions for investors.

For the company, however, cost and infrastructure remain live concerns. Roofings chairman Dr Sikander Lalani welcomed the reduced tariffs, which he said had given manufacturers “a breathing space”, but pressed for more reliable electricity and improved railways to sustain production and move goods. He credited the Uganda Investment Authority with supporting the firm’s expansion and said Roofings would continue working with the government on the steel sector.

Company director Oliver Lalani said East Africa’s growing population and expanding middle class presented opportunities for the industry, but acknowledged that the quality of steel available on the regional market still needed to improve as demand for construction materials rose.

The new rolling mill is part of a larger complex that includes a cold rolling mill, an edge-trimming line, a galvanising line and a colour-coating line. The cold rolling mill, a four-high mill built for further processing, is intended to let the company make higher-value products locally.