Recently, I had a chat with a farmer in Buliisa, one of the so called ‘oil districts.’ She is expectantly waiting for opportunities in the sector.

In her mid-30s, the farmer told me that after hearing that in April this year the government had entered agreements with oil majors—Total and CNOOC, her family decided to devote all their land (three acres) to producing for the oil and gas industry.

Part of me went into celebratory mood. But then I quickly realized that even if her entire village was to go into production, they would not qualify to supply the industry.

First, the quality and quantity of their produce didn’t look like they would meet the required standards. Second, even if they did meet the quality, their produce would run out within a few weeks.

Yet oil and gas companies (and I should know having worked for Total Energies for a few years), tend to prefer suppliers who can deliver for at least a month without fail. It quickly dawned on me that this is the precarious situation many Ugandans find themselves in.

Luckily, this situation doesn’t have to remain a predicament. In 2018, I decided to resign my job at Total and join the Standard Bank Group (SBG), because out of all financial institutions, they had exhibited an uncontestable commitment to make sure Ugandans fully benefited from the oil and gas resources.

In case you didn’t know, in 2018, SBG founded the Stanbic Business Incubator, which has since become Uganda’s leading partner in enterprise development. The Incubator trains, mentors, and facilitates MSMEs to develop resilient businesses, access to ready markets, finances, and other business support resources.

Nowhere else are these aspects more important than in the oil and gas sector. So far, we have trained close to 2000 companies. Of course not all these companies are involved in the oil and gas sector.

However, those that are, are already punching well above their weight, which speaks to the success of the Incubator but Stanbic is not sitting on its laurels.

We are cultivating partnerships that allow an increasing number of Ugandan companies to get a slice of the projected $20 billion worth of business opportunities in the oil and gas industry.

Indeed, I was recently overwhelmed when the Stanbic Holdings Uganda Limited (SHUL) Chief Executive, Andrew Mashanda, said, “It is our stated objective to support everything that the Stanbic Business Incubator does.”

Mashanda was speaking at the signing of a partnership between the Incubator and Uganda Registrations Services Bureau (URSB) that will see us annually train 500 SMEs owners in business compliance during the next five years.

Most of this work is already ongoing. At the Stanbic Business Incubator Agribusiness Centre in Hoima, for example, we have been training farmers, in the oil region in order to enable them tap into the emerging opportunities in the sector.

The facility is being led by one of Uganda’s best veterinary doctors, Dr. Emma Naluyima, who is being backed by Stanbic Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

These amazing people have already imparted invaluable knowledge to the local farmers. No wonder, Pure Grow Africa, a leading Ugandan food aggregator, which also supplies to Carrefour, entered into a partnership with the Hoima facility to tap into this new wave.

Perhaps you are there still wondering how to gain access to the sector? Maybe you are involved already but still experiencing a situation of stagnation.

Well, I can tell you that the Stanbic Business Incubator is always ready to burn the midnight oil for you and set you right.

Apart from the training and the other numerous opportunities at the Hoima Oil and Gas Agribusiness Centre, we have organized the East African SME Oil and Gas Conference.

The first of its kind, the conference is to be held between the 18-19^th of November 2021 at Sheraton Hotel Kampala. It aims at creating a platform for small and medium enterprises to maximally tap opportunities in sector.

I cannot over emphasize the point that participation of local businesses is the surest way for Uganda to benefit from her oil resources. Already, SMEs account for more than 70% of the entire private sector and employ millions of Ugandans, according to Uganda Investment Authority.

To further improve the contribution of SMEs to the Ugandan economy, SBIL has over the last few years been training them in a range of business skills and enabling them access financing, among others. The conference is supplementing these efforts by exploring other opportunities and eliminating the bottlenecks standing in the way of the SMEs targeting the oil and gas industry.

What more? To organize this conference, we have invited the most significant partners in the industry namely: the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, the National Oil Company (UNOC), Total Energies, CNOOC, and the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA).

There are many Ugandans who often claim that they are unaware of the opportunities to in the oil and gas sector. So, we at the Stanbic Bank Group thought we should enlighten you some more.

Come let us explore opportunities in farming, catering services, camp management services, logistics and transportation, training and development, civil works, land surveying, security, waste management, and so much more!

With this conference, you also have a chance to build your network and get answers with regards to identifying business opportunities, supplying, and financing projects for the oil and gas industry.

Tony Otoa is the Chief Executive, of the Stanbic Business Incubator