BUDGET REACTIONS: Mining Is Yet To Be Well-Funded

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NATIONAL BUDGET READING 2026

Don Bwesigye: ED African Centre for Energy and Minerals Policy

A significant percentage of the sh473.51b that has been allocated to mineral development and the oil and gas sector goes to the operationalisation of EACOP and development of the oil refinery, in essence, lowering the budget allocated to actual mineral development.

We have, over the years, advocated for a separation of allocations to mineral development and the oil and gas industry in vain. Mining remains one of the most significant sectors with the potential to transform the Ugandan economy, but unfortunately continues to receive the least budget allocation compared to the energy, oil and gas sectors.

The current budget allocation undermines the development of the mining sector. The budget allocated to the mining sector’s priority funding areas this year (continued mineral exploration, resource quantification and certification minerals, capitalisation of the Uganda National Mining Company (UNMC) and the establishment of mineral markets and buying centres) remains a drop in the ocean.

For UNMC to succeed in the long-term, government funding and fiscal frameworks must be highly targeted. The capital intensity of the mining industry requires the UNMC to invest in structured mining projects or outrightly develop new deposits, where rich geological data is available.

Funding aggressive exploration campaigns around existing (brownfields) and new metallogenic belts is the primary way to guarantee commercial mineral reserves. Such cannot be achieved with the sector receiving less than 1% of the total fiscal year budget allocation.

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