UEDCL opens special service office for manufacturers

KAMPALA - Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) has opened an office that will be dedicated to serving manufacturers.

The office located at the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) showgrounds at Lugogo in Kampala was opened by the Energy State Minister, Okaasai Opolot, on the sidelines of a dialogue between the utility company and manufacturers on Wednesday.

Opolot described manufacturers as essential electricity consumers whose needs must be attended to specially.

Okaasai said the manufacturing sector contributes about 16% to Uganda’s gross domestic product (GDP), generating at least two million jobs, while generating approximately 30% of the country’s total tax revenue.

“Crucially, it is also the single largest consumer of electricity in the country, utilising about 70% of national electricity output. This inherent linkage underscores why a reliable and affordable electricity supply is not merely a convenience but a strategic imperative for our industrial progress,” he said.

Aga Sekalala Jr., the UMA board chairperson, welcomed the development, saying it will reduce the time it takes to have manufacturers’ complaints to the utility company solved.

“The idea is to make connectivity and complaint solving easier and convenient. In the past, we have been liaising with our individual customer relations people, who also had to contact people from various offices. This office will make it more centralised,” Sekalala said.