Uganda, Siemens discuss access to energy

Uganda has held discussions with Siemens, a German conglomerate company on how to increase access to reliable and efficient energy as a key to Uganda's socio-economic development.

The discussion that was held during the Lab of Tomorrow, a collaborative design-thinking workshop that seeks to develop innovative solutions for developmental challenges in Uganda's energy sector was held at Siemens headquarters in Munich, Germany recently.

The meeting was an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) under the guidance of the German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ).

It generated innovative ideas of increasing access to reliable and efficient energy in the country.

It was attended by representatives from Ugandan government and private companies, industry experts to generate new business ideas.

The workshop was a follow-up from the memorandum of agreement signed at the World Economic Forum on Africa where we committed to focus on infrastructure investments and partnerships between public and private companies. 

"African economies are gaining ground and can develop their full potential with the right partner.  Siemens wants to support their sustainable development with solutions and projects in Africa, for Africa", Sabine Dall'Omo, Siemens chief executive officer for Southern and Eastern Africa.

She explained that the company's goal in Uganda is to assist the government to increase national power generating capacities and to connect the local population to the power grids.

According to 2014, national population census, only 20% of the population has access to electricity in Uganda.

"A reliable and extensive power supply system is the fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development, economic growth and job creation," she added.

She described Uganda as a stable country that is, well integrated into the East African Community whose economic development is promising as government is carrying out policies to attract business and to create an environment that is conducive to more investment.

Following the workshop, the GIZ will facilitate the testing phase of the business cases presented and this could ultimately lead to the implementation of projects that will provide access for affordable and reliable energy solutions for Uganda.

Gunter Nooke, BMZ's Commissioner for Africa commended the participants for the innovative ideas generated during the workshop.

"Energy is high on the German agenda, and in particular finding innovative solutions for energy challenges. This workshop enabled us to get a better understanding of the unique challenges that the people of Uganda are facing. This is only the starting point; the challenge is now to turn the ideas into viable business solutions," Nooke said.