Shs1.3b to expand power network in Kapeeka Park

Expansion of electricity network in Kapeeka Industrial Park in Nakaseke District has eventually commenced after Shs1.3 billion was made available.
Kapeeka Industrial Park is one of the private industrial Parks where economic activities are already in high gear, and going by available evidence, things are set to get better by the day.
In the 2019/2020 Budget Speech delivered mid-this year by Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, the government made its intention clear in regard to speeding up industrial growth by, among other things, supporting infrastructural development for all the proposed industrial parks, including the private ones like Kapeeka.
During the extension, power distribution company Umeme Limited will add a 15-kilometre line to pick power from a transmission substation and move it to the manufacturing estate.
Umeme will also install 19 transformers to serve the industries in the estate.
The project manager, Eng. David Sserunkuma, says the venture will be complete by the end of December, barely three months away.
“Once complete, we shall be able to provide more reliable and abundant power to the factories in the park,” says Engineer Sserunkuma.
According to a study titled “Electricity Access in Sub-Saharan Africa Uptake, Reliability and Complementary Factors for Economic Impact”, stable power contributes to the establishment of new firms while sustaining existing ones.
“Access to reliable electricity improves the welfare and quality of life of households so that they can offer productive labour services to the industrial sector,” reads an extract of the report.
Generation capacity
As of March 2019, Uganda’s installed electricity generation capacity was 1,179MW, following the completion of several hydropower generation projects including Isimba Hydropower Dam. And, the national high voltage electricity transmission grid now totals 2,258km.
Lively Kapeeka
Kapeeka industrial estate is home to Goodwill Uganda Ceramics Company, which manufactures tiles for the domestic market, Ho & Mu Food Technology and Yahe Maize Mill. The factories under construction are Jindi agro-processing, Jiaxing Jufeng Electric Wire, Haohua Textile, Jiajia Uganda Food Factory and Tidefish International Trade Company
Ministry of Foreign Affairs document, authored in the financial year 2018/19 says Holley Group, presumably a Chinese-owned company, will expand the park [from 2.6 square kilometres] to five square kilometres.
Asked for an explanation why the park would be expanded, the State minister for Energy Simon D’Ujanga, said the Energy ministry’s role is to ensure there is power in the park, just as in many other parks.
“To expand an industrial park is not our (Ministry of Energy) mandate. For us, we supplied power,” Mr D’Ujanga noted.
According to the National Industrialisation Policy by the Ministry of Trade, the government shall, in collaboration with the private sector, develop and upgrade infrastructure to facilitate industrialisation.
The government reasons that industries will contribute to reducing unemployment, which, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2016), was at 9.4 per cent.
Once the youth get jobs and income, they would consume more than they did when they had no jobs and contribute to economic growth.
Above all, employment would prevent the unemployed youth from turning to crime to put food on the table, actively engaging in political protests and drifting towards rebel armies.
To further industrialisation, the government is promoting the establishment of common facilities such as water, drainage, roads and power in industrial estates.
The policy adds that under zonal industrialisation phase programme, industrial parks will be opened in major towns and will involve land acquisition as well as infrastructure development.
The government intends to establish 22 industrial parks across the country. They will be in Kampala (Namanve), Arua, Lira, Gulu, Soroti, Moroto, Mbale, Tororo, Iganga, Jinja, Masaka, Luwero-Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Mbarara, Bushenyi, Kabale, Kasese, Fort Portal, Hoima, Rakai and Mubende industrial parks.
According to Daily Monitor dated September 23, State Minister for Investment, Evelyn Anite, said that 15 industrial parks have so far been completed, with the latest being in Mbale.
Other areas that will be covered during the second phase of powering industrial parks are Nakasongola in central Uganda and Tororo in Eastern Uganda.
Power
As of March 2019, Uganda’s installed electricity generation capacity was 1,179MW, following the completion of several hydropower generation projects including Isimba Hydropower Dam. And, the national high voltage electricity transmission grid now totals 2,258km. To increase consumption of power, the government is, through the Electricity Connection Policy, subsidising the cost of electricity connections. Over 300,000 connections are targeted annually. This initiative will realise growth in access to electricity to 30 per cent by end of 2020 and 60 per cent by 2027.