_________________

MBALE

National Enterprise Cooperation, the commercial arm of Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs has unveiled a factory to produce car air cleaner filters.

Under the flagship of NEC-WATU, the multibillion venture is a partnership with WATU Ltd. Uganda, is located in Sino-Uganda Mbale Industrial Park in Eastern Uganda.

At the commissioning of the new line on Wednesday, Lt Gen James Mugira, managing Director of NEC, revealed that WATU has capacity of producing 1.5m car filters per year. The cooperation, he added involves development and management of automobile industrial projects.

(Photo by Paul Watala)

Oboth Oboth, the state minister for Defence and veteran affairs, who presided over the events described NEC-WATU Automobile (U) Limited as an "innovation with a big impact on the automobile sector in Uganda".

Fact file:

National Enterprise Corporation was established in 1989 by an Act of Parliament to serve as a commercial arm of the Ministry of Defence /Uganda Defence Forces and to produce goods and services that are beneficial to the Defence Forces and the general public.

NEC  also have joint partnerships with different firms including:

Streit Group for the manufacture of armoured vehicles using UPDF personnel. The armoured vehicle manufacturing factory in Nakasongola was commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni on 27th July 2022.

NEC is also running Kyoga Dynamics Ltd, a joint venture project with China Wanbao Engineering Company. The Joint Venture deals in the business of manufacture, storage, blasting, and sale of civil commercial explosives used in mining and infrastructure development such as roads, dams, railway. The explosives production line at Nakasongola is the first emulsion explosive production line in the East Africa region and third on the continent.

In 2016, NEC and Pro Heli International Ltd launched another company in Nakasongola with various facilities including Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul of civil and military helicopters and aircrafts.