Gov’t set to support local manufacturers in mineral value addition

Ms Bateebe explained that value addition is an opportunity for the country to benefit beyond exporting and processed minerals but create employment.

"We will be able to employ Ugandans, a typical mine could be able to employ 3,000-5,000 Ugandans but also you are able to provide goods and services as part of value addition," Ms Bateebe said.

Speaking during the launch of the Pan African Resource Reporting Code 2023 in Kampala on April 3, she noted that the government has started supporting a number of companies that are already moving into value addition.

The workshop organized by African Union stakeholders in the global mineral sector highlighted the need for a robust legal framework, value addition for industrial growth, and the implementation of mineral certification mechanisms to combat illegal resource exploitation. 

Ms Bateebe revealed that very soon the government will be launching the first ever tin processing facility in Uganda, operated by Wood Cross Resources Company that to refine tin to over 99 percent in purity level.

“That way we shall see our facilities going up across the country not only for tin, we are going to do the same for rare gas and copper in Kilembe mines," Ms Bateebe said.

She said that apart from adding value, the government is also developing the downstream industry to have the entire chain activated and that companies are already setting up to manufacture transformers that can use copper that will be processed in the country.

However, she noted that there is a need to develop human resources capacity because these are new areas that require more mining processors, chemical engineers, and industrial chemists to support the value addition drive.

Mr Bateebe said that with collaboration with the African Union, the country will be able to develop the competence in clarifying minerals but also build a critical mass of not only geoscientists but also economists, financial analysts to be able to estimate the country's reservoirs better.

Mr Tunde Muritala Arisekola, a Senior Advisor Geologic and Minerals Information at African Minerals Development Centre said that value addition is very important for Africa.

Mr Arisekola referred to it as a crime for African countries to export minerals as raw materials.

He said countries need to invest a lot in the value addition chain if they must succeed.