The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
The 2014 Industrial Baseline Survey (IBS), titled, “a survey to foster opportunities for Ugandans in the oil and gas sector”, shows that Uganda’s petroleum sector will generate 100,000 to 150,000 direct and indirect jobs.
However, the survey identified, limited information, lack of skills, poor infrastructure, and administrative bureaucracy as some of the barriers that would hamper Ugandans from working in the sector.
It also revealed that only 25 industries out of the 420 surveyed in Uganda had high potential to supply the sector with various goods and services.
Tony Otoa, the head of the Stanbic Bank Business Incubator said at the conference that the lack of entrepreneurial management and business skills, poor banking and borrowing history, lack of business plans and financial records, low corporate governance and fierce local and international competition were the leading deadlocks facing Ugandan enterprises.
Possible solutions
As part of the solutions, Otoa said Stanbic’s incubator was set up to deal with these challenges and make businesses get ready to tap into oil and gas opportunities.
He said over 500 entrepreneurs from over 150 businesses have benefited from the initiative and that some have been directly linked to sector partners and are already making money.
He urged businesses that have not yet taken part in the free of charge training to do so if they are to benefit from the sector.
“This is proof that our local businesses are capable of taking up opportunities in the sector and should therefore not be left out but rather should be empowered,” Otoa said.
He said the training lasts three months and thereafter, beneficiaries are given mentors to ensure that all the knowledge and skills attained are put into use.
“I understand we have been doing business as usual…we have to change if we are to benefit from the sector,” he said.
While sharing her sector experience, one of the entrepreneurs, Juliana Keilungi from Atacama, a consulting firm that has won several contracts in the oil and gas sector advised entrepreneurs to build capacity, and skills in all corporate governance areas instead of giving up when things appear to fail to workout.
“The beginning is always tough. You have to be ready with solutions to deal with the challenges.”
Keilungi urged businesses to register in the National Suppliers Database; recruit competent team; invest in human and financial capital; invest in quality management systems; generate consistently high quality work; get good lines of credit and promise only what they can deliver.
On his part, Kevin Wingfield, the head of personal and business banking, urged businesses to prepare enough ahead of oil production.
“We have to be proactive when taking up opportunities,” Wingfield said.
He added that opportunities are in big projects like the refinery, development of oil fields, the oil pipeline, the airport and other supporting infrastructure.
He also urged participants to read up, network, form partnerships as one way of understanding the oil and gas sector value chain if they are to win contracts.
“Partnerships are not a threat; they are an opportunity,” he said. “Be organised. Have a clear story before you approach banks for funding.”
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