The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Tororo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has this afternoon commissioned the first phase of the China-Uganda Free Zone at Sukulu, a $620 million investment, in Tororo, Uganda.
The investment, by Chinese company Guangzhou Dongsong Energy Group Uganda Limited, will have a fertilizer plant, steel mill and supporting power plant, glass factory, cement factory and sulfuric acid plant in one place.
The Chinese company have signed a 21 year mining lease extendable for 15 years to develop the Uganda-China Free Zone at Osukuru Hills into an Industrial complex.
Museveni hailed China for the support. “In 2013 Uganda spent $59 million importing fertilizers, now this importation will stop.”
“Therefore I am very grateful to the Chinese government for their cooperation. They not only support these money making projects, they also support infrastructure. These factories need electricity and the Chinese have supported us in that effort,” Museveni said.
He said Ugandans should “wake up.”
“We need cities of factories and not cities of shops that trade in thread, salt, cooking oil.”
Reduction of Uganda’ import bill
The industry is going to be the first in East Africa to carry out the full production from mining of minerals, separating them from ore or dressing and processing them into final products.
The plant will introduce the first purely organic fertilizers on the local market, will produce 300,000 metric tonnes of fertilizers annually when commercial production begins in December 2018.
The steel plant will help reduction of expenditure on Ugandan imports of the industrial item that stands at close to $377m annually.
Uganda on average also imports fertilizer worth $60m million and spends $23 million for glass annually. Now these will all be manufactured at Sukulu.
@KagutaMuseveni launches the Sukulu Phosphate comprehensive Industrial Dev’t
project which is part of a $620m investment.
Introducing the 1st purely organic
fertilizers on the local mrkt and will be
producing 50k tons at the start which will
grow to 100k tons as demand grows. pic.twitter.com/bCX3mFsWIH— Abu Mwesigwa (@AbuMwesigwa) October 23, 2018
