Umeme Pulse Magazine Issue 2

ISSUE 2

THE UMEME

APRIL 2022

NOT FOR SALE

RECOVERY

POST PANDEMIC

21

PROJECTS

OF IMPACT

Umeme

atSERVICE

+

YearInReview

INVESTMENT | PEOPLE | SERVICE | GROWTH

1

much has moved

Unlock the latest info about our power projects

in a community next door

ONLINE

Preview our unique

combination of funding,

industry dynamics and

commercial opportunities

360 O

BROWSE www.umeme.co.ug/projects

to find out more about our ongoing, completed and prospective electricity projects Countrywide

Umeme

atSERVICE

Umeme

atSERVICE Powering Uganda

2

Network Technical Officer

Fahadi Kyembe on duty in

Kasokoso, Kampala.

PHOTO Micheal J W/ImagesOfUmeme

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

3

COVER PHOTOGRAPH

Umeme’s Electrical Engineers Patience Nampa

and Juliet Nakitto inspect a steel manufacturing

factory in Njeru Industrial Park, Buikwe District.

PHOTO Micheal J W/ImagesofUmeme


www.umeme.co.ug

INSIDE

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free e-Copy

Published by Umeme Limited

Department of Communications

Rwenzori House

P.O.Box 23841

Lumumba Avenue

Kampala, UGANDA

E callcentre@umeme.co.ug

T 0312-360-600

www.umeme.co.ug

EDITORIAL STAFF

Selestino Babungi, Editor-In-Chief

Peter Kaujju, Editor

Stephen Ilungole

Nelson Wesonga

Micheal J W

Jonathan Adengo

DESIGN LEAD

Micheal J W

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Micheal J W

Joseph Balikuddembe

Brian Onyango

Umeme


4

UGANDA TOPS

IN AFRICA

ELECTRICITY

Uganda tops African Development

Bank’s Electricity Regulatory Index

for the fourth consecutive year.

ADB RESEARCH

PAGE 46

Editorial input closed on April 30, 2022

Reproduction can only be permitted with

appropriate source references.

Copyright © 2022 Umeme Publications

Distributed freely by Umeme Limited


Print Run: 1500 Copies

INSIDE ISSUE 2

MEET UGANDANS

WORKING TO KEEP

THE LIGHTS ON

SUPPORTING BUBU

PAGE

78

TWAAKE

UNLOCKING

SOLAR

POTENTIAL

A new integrated energy approach that

could deliver universal electrification in

Uganda.

PAGE

76

UMEME’S PERFORMANCE

SINCE OUR INITIAL FUNDING

IN 2009 IS IMPRESSIVE

—IFC (World Bank Group) PAGE

36

2022

AND BEYOND PAGE 6

BREAKING NEW GROUNDS IN

ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION

The service then was characterized by high

energy losses, a dilapidated network and

enormous distribution inefficiencies.

NEVER AGAIN

PAGE 60

YEARS

AS A PUBLICLY LISTED

COMPANY

5

OUTLOOK

A year of Recovery

The global supply challenges including delayed shipment

of material affected us. Umeme registered a 10%

growth in electricity demand compared to the 0.6% of

2020. The industrial category grew at 11%, commercial

SMEs at 12% and household domestic at 6.3%. For the ten

months to October 2021, 2,900GWh were sold compared to

2,645 for the same period in 2020.

This continued growth has a positive impact on further

investments in the electricity industry and underlying real

reduction in electricity tariffs.

We welcome the initiatives by the Government to promote

productive use of energy through the pilot industrial parks

tariff, cooking tariff and declining block tariff for domestic

users. This is projected to improve the generation plants

utilization capacity leading to broad reduction in tariffs.

In the tariff application, we pegged continued growth in energy

demand at 10% in the 2022 tariff year.

The customer connections to the grid increased to 129,551 in

2021 of which 57,000 were self-funded.

We also connected 98 industrial customers and 851 commercial

SME customers over the period. The total customer base

stands at 1.6 million, reflecting a 9% growth compared to 2020.

We continue to engage with the Government to avail funding

for the pending applications for connection to the grid, as

outlined in the Electricity Connections Policy.

Our focus areas for 2022 include investment in the distribution

network to facilitate the growth, connection of at least 317,282

new customers to the grid subject to availability of funding

from the Government and partners and improvement in

operational efficiency through reducing energy losses.

We continue to invest in technology to automate service

delivery as well as internal processes, improve visibility and the

performance of network assets.

2022 should see recovery from the effects of the COVID-19

pandemic not only for us as a business but also other sector

players.

Selestino Babungi

MANAGING DIRECTOR

UMEME LIMITED

We look forward to continuing to support the Government

electricity access agenda.

Umeme


6

Umeme’s Technician repairs a

faulty transformer in Kasokoso,

a Kampala City Surbub.



IMPROVE

OPERATIONAL

EFFICIENCY

MORE

CUSTOMERS

ON THE GRID

EMPOWER

SMEs

7

ENERGY

FOR THE NATION

“We are here to change the game...”

Namanve Substation



Umeme


8

9

CHAIRMAN

The customer still

needs service

We started the year 2021 with

optimism and hope for a brighter

year. The year, however, was

challenging, disrupted by the second

phase of the Covid-19 pandemic that impacted our

business, customers, and the Country.

Electricity demand dropped at the start, though, it

is beginning to pick up.

The National Electricity Grid currently reaches only

26% of the households. Solar is covering another

25%. So, one in every two households does not

have access to either solar or grid electricity.

The question now should be how to get to those

who do not have access? Once we get to them,

education will improve, same as health and jobs

will be created.

If we do not create jobs for the youth, we could

end up with security problems, civil unrest.

Jobs cannot come without industrialisation.

Industrialisation cannot come without access to

affordable and reliable power.

We need significant investment in the distribution

sector. This infrastructure we are building is long

term, we are building long term assets and longterm

assets require long term financing.

Our desire is for the concession discussions to

be concluded to ensure appropriate capital that

matches the time needed to mobilise resources for

investment.

Pat rick Bitatu re

BOARD CHAIRMAN

UMEME LIMITED

Umeme is grateful to the Government under the

leadership of H.E President Yoweri K. Museveni,

Development Partners, Customers and other

Stakeholders for the unwevering support to

Uganda’s energy sector which has become a

bechmark for many.

Umeme


10

GROWING

SHAREHOLDER

VALUE

SUPPORTING

Government

AGENDA

EXPLORING

OFF-GRID

SOLUTIONS

Umeme Staff ride on a motor

bike beating traffic to serve.



11

Loading transformers

ahead of a field installation



INTEGRATING

PEOPLE

INVESTMENT +

SERVICE

With a total work force of 2500 dedicated Ugandans, our

commitment to service is guaranteed. This is in tandem with

Government of Uganda’s BUBU Policy.

Umeme


12

13

THE EDITOR

The People and

Service issue

Welcome to our second edition of the

Umeme Pulse Magazine—the people

and service issue.

The past two years were difficult as entities,

businesses and global economies had to rethink

their strategies to survive the piercing effects of

Covid-19 that cost life and caused unprecedented

turbulence to many systems including health,

learning and financial amongst others across the

World.

For us at Umeme, given that we deal in a service

that powers every sector, we were innovative

and invested heavily in ICT infrastructure to keep

electricity on and deliver the service while ensuring

safety of our staff and the public.

Despite the challenges, we continued to improve

the electricity network reliability completing many

key projects across our footprint such as the $2m

Nakasamba Substation to power the growing

demand of electricity due to upcoming investments

like expansion of Entebbe International Airport and

Industrial points in the Municipality, a Switching

Station in Lyantonde to power parts of South

West Buganda as well as Western Uganda and

several other interventions in Eastern and Northern

Uganda amongst others.

In line with the Government of Uganda Plans to

increase access to the National Grid, we connected

more Ugandans through the Electricity Connection

Policy and Self-Funded Connection.

Pete r h. kaujju

HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS

UMEME LIMITED

We commenced 2022 with great focus on

entrenching the GOU plans including implementing

the new Tariff Structure which includes the cooking

tariff and the US Cents 5 for industrial parks

being piloted in MM Industrial Park in Buikwe and

Kapeeka.

We invite you to get an insight into the prospects

of the sector.

Umeme


14

Umeme’s Network Engineer,

Steven Opwonya inspects a

transformer at Gulu Substation.



THE FACES

BEHIND

THE ELECTRONS

RECOVERY

POST

PANDEMIC

PROJECT

UPDATES

24/7

15

INVESTING TO FEED THE

GROWING

DEMAND

Without investment, generation

capacity would quickly be

overtaken by rising demand

while aging infrastructure

would result in increased

losses and deterioration of

the reliability of supply.

Umeme


16

Kakiri Substation.



KAKIRI Substation

Umeme constructed a $1.3 million (Shs 4.9

billion) Substation to improve the quality of

electricity in Kakiri, Nansana and Wakiso—

These are fast-growing areas when it comes

to use of power since they play host to

many of Kampala City’s workers.

Continuous investment in power generation,

transmission and distribution infrastructure is

essential to ensure reliable electricity supply.

Without investment, generation capacity

would quickly be overtaken by rising

demand while aging infrastructure would

result in increased losses and deterioration

of the reliability of supply.

BY THE NUMBERS

60,210

Population of Wakiso City

(UBOS, 2014)

Supporting businesses, homes

and services in Kakiri, Nansana

and Wakiso.

Powering industries and

factories in this region which in

turn employs locals.

Extending power to various

consumers in the area

including a military base.

WAKISO

CENTRAL UGANDA

17

Looking back in the past year, COVID-19 looms large.

Our lives were utterly transformed as the pandemic

continued to sweep around the Globe—Uganda not being

an exception—leaving service disruption in its wake.

Fortunately, with the support of Government, partners and

key sector players, Umeme mobilized to keep electricity

services sustained—and we commit to continue this critical

work in 2022.

2021 IN A

SNAPSHOT

YearInReview as we close in on

almost 2 decades of milestones

Provided electricity

service & support to

3,507

GWh

1.6M

10 %

2500

customers in several

Districts across our footprint.

Growth in electricity demand

compared to the 0.6% of 2020.

were sold compared to

3,201 for the same

period in 2020.

Workforce of

dedicated staff

who are 100%

Ugandan.

Umeme


18


Manson Nahamya readies

for an electrical installation.



129,551

We increased the

customer base by 9% to 1.6

million customers through

an addition of 129,551 new

customers to the grid.

We connected 98 industrial customers and 851 commercial SME

customers over the period. The total customer base stands at 1.6

million, reflecting a 9% growth compared to 2020.

USD34.1

Total investments in the distribution

system focused on network

expansion, reliability, reduction of

technical losses, safety, operational

efficiency and grid connections.

Integrated our Social Media

outlets to reach more customers

everywhere. They now total 10.

Our additional digital

outlets include;

@MDofUmeme,

@UmemeAtService

and @SpoxOfUmeme

19

YearInReview

are cautiously optimistic

that positive economic activity

signals in 2021 will be stronger

in 2022, supported by higher

COVID19 vaccination levels

amidst a fully re-opened

economy.

Umeme


202We

21

PROJECTS OF

IMPACT

21

The key 21 Capital

Investment Projects

we embarked on

Tororo-Mbale and Hoima-Kinyara interconnection lines

to address the growth in electricity demand and network

operational efficiency in the Elgon and the Bunyoro

regions.

Gulu Power Substation.

Lyantonde Switching Station.

Kakiri Power Station.

Busia, Fortportal and Kapeeka Service Centres to bring

services closer to our customers.

Kitimba-Mpanga Electrification.

Nakasamba power station and integration lines in Entebbe.

Line refurbishments in Kamuli, Kibimba, Bubulo, Fort-

Portal, Kisubi and Kampala south.

Reconfiguration and supply stabilization in Naalya,

Najjeera, Buwate, Namugongo and Ntinda belt.

Transformer zones upgrade in various parts of the Country

to address the growing electricity demand and ensure

network reliability.

Network automation projects; We continue to focus on

investments in the distribution system, for supply reliability,

technical loss reduction, safety and distribution capacity

enhancement.

21

YearInReview

21

KAKIRI

21 Capital

Investment Projects

we embarked on

Substation

The new Kakiri Substation

whose construction started in

early 2020 is now complete.

The facility will improve power

reliability, reduce energy losses

in Kakiri, Nansana and Wakiso

areas. It is one of the projects

improving electricity access.

TORORO—MBALE

INTERCONNECTIONS

Tororo-Mbale and Hoima-Kinyara

interconnection lines to address the

growth in electricity demand and

network operational efficiency in

the Elgon and the Bunyoro regions.

NETWORK

PROJECTS

We continue to focus on

investments in the distribution

system, for supply reliability,

technical loss reduction,

safety and distribution

capacity enhancement.

NAKASAMBA

Substation

A new facility which is now powering

the electricity needs of folks in

Entebbe, Kitooro and the vicinity.

The 20MVA Substation is supplying

National Water and Sewerage

Corporation (NWSC) plant in Entebbe

as well as extend a dedicated feed to

Entebbe International Airport.

FORTPORTAL

SERVICE CENTRE

We unveiled a new Service Centre

in Fort Portal City, the latest

addition to our investments in the

Region. They now total 47 Service

Centres across our footprint.

Umeme

atSERVICE

www.umeme.co.ug/projects

Umeme


22


Steven Opwonya inspects a

transformer at Gulu Substation.



GULU Substation

To create reliability in Gulu City,

the Gulu Substation has been

upgraded from 2.5MVA to 5MVA.

We upgraded the Gulu feeder

to support the evacuation of

the Achwa Hydro Power Plant

through Gulu Substation.

23

BOLSTERING GULU’S

ECONOMIC

POTENTIAL

Without investment, generation capacity would “quickly

be overtaken by rising demand” while aging infrastructure

would result in “increased losses and deterioration of the

reliability of supply.

Umeme


24

Gulu Substation



GULU Substation

Umeme injected over shs17b in the

past three years aimed at stabilizing

and creating reliable power supply in

Gulu City and the surrounding.

Our desire is to support people to

run their homes, businesses and

communities.

We do not have any joy when

supply is off. That is why we push

our technical teams to get out

there to restore supply even in the

night whenever there is service

interruption.

BY THE NUMBERS

152,276

Population of Gulu City

(UBOS, 2014)


and services in Gulu City.

Powering milling and processing

communities in Gulu City.

Administrative—offices,

schools and other services

in the City.

GULU CITY

NOTHERN UGANDA

25

A bird’s eye-view of

Tororo Cement



It is hard to talk about development without the factors of

production. Uganda has been on a positive trajectory in her

development path and this has been achieved by a host of

many factors ranging from peace and security, good political

climate but most importantly, a reliable electricity network.

The positive stories are built on years of Umeme’s

investments in not just the grid, but also building capacity.

UMEME AT THE

FOOTHILLS OF

OF INDUSTRY

Umeme


26

TESTIMONIALS

JEAN

MICHEL

HIMA CEMENT

AMERICAN TOWER

COMPANY (ATC)

Despite some downtime

challenges, there has been

visible progress on both the

availability and reliability of

electricity. The unplanned

downtime by UMEME at our

Jinja Plant has reduced in the

last 12 months and the response

time to address the downtimes

is much better. Overall, there is

an improvement but we opt for

zero downtime.

Umeme needs to invest in

voltage stabilisers on their grid,

but generally, there has been a

big improvement- I would say, 7

out of 10.

This has resulted in reduced

cost on the power bill but

most importantly stability

in operations

Overall, reliability has increased.

Our considered desire would

be to also connect the areas

of West Nile where the Bank

has wide considerable business

interests on the Hydro-Electric

Power grid so that economic

benefits associated with this

power infrastructure are

similarly harnessed.

In 2017 and 2018, we

successfully set up two

factories, our Namanve

Blending and Tororo

Grinding Stations

respectively and with the

support of the Umeme team

who invested in the right

infrastructure, the power is

more reliable.

We still have a long way

to go before we achieve

a good power status in

Hima Plant but there are

significant efforts from all

stakeholders to realize this.

NILE BREWERIES

UGANDA LIMITED

The Umeme grid network

has been expanding year on

year and during that time,

ATC Uganda has been able to

double the number of gridconnected

sites on the network.

There has been a noticeable

improvement in grid availability

and reliability, particularly in

the Northern and Eastern

parts of the Country which

had previously been quite

challenging. This has seen the

grid availability improve from

~80% to ~85% over the past few

years

CENTENARY BANK

UGANDA

Speaking to The East African Magazine

November 2021

27

Industrial users account

for about

50 %

of all the power

distributed by Umeme

Umeme


28

Steel Rolling Mills

PHOTO Courtesy

Steel Rolling Mills

29

VOICE OF THE

CUSTOME

OPINION

Umeme’s Manager for Tororo,

Tom Awuzu engages Anil the

Plant Manager at the factory.



Umeme


30

R

Roofings Group the Strength

of a Nation, as they love to

call themselves, is Uganda’s

largest steel and construction

products maker and certainly

one of the largest in East and Central

Africa.

In Uganda, the Group is made up of

Roofings Limited- the Group’s seed

steel factory in Lubowa on the Kampala,

Entebbe Road established in 1995 as

well as Roofings Polypipes, also in

Lubowa, that makes construction grade

PVC fittings for plumbing, drainage and

electrical installations.

Roofings Rolling Mills (RRM), the third

unit of the Group is a 3 unit complex

that was started in 2009 with a wire

galvanizing plant, followed by a 100,000

tonne-per-annum hot rolling (rebar) mill

and finally a 150,000

tonnes-per-annum

cold rolling mill with

galvanizing and colourcoating

lines. (150,000

tonnes) per annum. This

Roofing Rolling Mills,

located in the Kampala

Industrial Business Park,

Namanve is the biggest

in the Country and one

of the largest plants in

the East African region.

“I had a dream to build something I

could be proud of, decades later, I

am a part of something we can all be

proud of,” says Dr Sikander Lalani,

the Chairman/Managing Director of

Roofings Group, says on the Group’s

website.

So large is the RRM plant that its power

load requirement is 20 MegaWatt of

electricity, according to Anil K. Bansal,

the Deputy Plant Manager.

“We consume between 70 to 80 million

units of electricity in a year,” he says.

“We have state of the art technologies,

from across the globe,” he proudly

says, adding: “Our chairman, Dr

Sikander Lalani’s vision has always been

to install the most modern technologies

so that we can produce the best quality

products at an affordable price.”

But besides the cutting edge

technology, Mr Bansal says, electricity—

stable and reliable electricity is the next

big ingredient in the power-hungry steel

industry.

“Power is a very important factor. It

plays a vital role in production,” he says

in an interview.

And that is why to him Umeme Limited,

Uganda’s largest electricity distributor

that accounts for 97% of all power

distributed in the Country, is a critical

stakeholder.

“Umeme is playing a critical role in this

plant by supplying us with good quality

and stable power. That’s so important

for our production

industrial users

account for

about 50 % of

all the power

distributed by

Umeme

because we can

adjust our production

capacities to produce

consistently the

highest level of

quality,” he says.

“The relationship with

Umeme has been

excellent- we have

very good support

from Umeme. We can

see a continuous improvement in the

power quality and the services from

them,” Bansal says adding: “The power

quality is fantastic. I would say it’s very

stable, good quality power. So as a

customer, we are really happy.”

Regarding the customer service

experience with Umeme, Bansal also

says it has been “excellent.”

“Umeme has got a very strong,

professional team. A very competent

team. The response is very fast. And

even the top management is easily

approachable,” he says adding: “We

also see Umeme continuously building

up new power projects. We can see

there is a new Substation in Namanve

itself.”

31

But this good relationship with

Roofings wasn’t always like this- as

Duncan, Tebaggalika, the Assistant

Manager, Electrical at Roofings Rolling

Mills notes.

“When we commissioned this plant in

2013, the quality of power, sincerely

speaking, was terrible. We could

hardly do any operations,” he recalls,

adding that working with Umeme

and other stakeholders such as the

Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA)

the power quality has improved

greatly.

“Around 2015 ERA and Umeme

came on board and they proposed

the statcom project and it was

implemented in 2017. So we’ve been

running it for over now three years. It

is a very good project that has done

us very well,” he says of the power

quality.

Umeme’s 5-year USD450 million

investment agenda

Umeme has consistently invested

in the Kampala Industrial Business

Park (KIBP) and the surrounding

industrial areas- which by far are the

manufacturing hub of the Country.

For example in 2020, Umeme injected

USD2.37 million to evacuate power

from the UETCL Substation, at

Namanve to enhance power supply

quality to the KIBP, where Roofings

is located. The project included

construction of underground cabling

works, with automated Ring Main

Units linking the UETCL Namanve

South and North Substations. These

projects have greatly stabilized and

improved the quality of supply to

industrial customers in Namanve.

In the nearby Mbalala Industry

Area, Umeme also invested in

interconnecting feeders to evacuate

power from the UETCL Mukono

North Substation, to improve power

supply to the Mukono Industrial Area

in Mbalala along Mukono-Jinja Road

highway. This project feeds, among

others, the Tian Tang Industrial

Complex, Kampala Cement Factory as

well as the new National Water and

Sewerage Corporate (NWSC) plant at

Katosi on the shores of Lake Victoria.

The above projects which were

all completed in 2020, are part of

Umeme’s USD83.3 million (UGX310

billion) capacity enhancement and

network stabilisation investments

across the Country.

At the nearby Century Bottling

Company factory, makers of

Coca-Cola, Edward Ojede, the

Manufacturing Director at Coca-Cola

Beverages Africa says that although

they are yet to hit the required

maximum efficiency, power quality has

greatly improved over the years.

“The reliability of electricity supply has

improved a lot over time,” Ojede says,

but quickly adds that there are still

spikes that affect the business.

“As an entity, in the industrial park,

we expect better power quality within

the park as it’s a very important

input for manufacturing. Most of our

equipment is high-spec technology

which is extremely sensitive to

unstable power,” he says, adding

that the business has had to invest

about USD3 million on a power

stabilising supply system as the work

with stakeholders to fully resolve the

power issues.

Mr Ojede is optimistic that the

improvements at the Namanve

Substation will see the power stabilise.

“We have raised this with Umeme and

the Electricity Regulatory Authority

(ERA) severally and keep hoping it

will be addressed once and for all,”

he says.

James Byaruhanga, the General

Manager of the just-launched Raxio

Data Centre that consumes up to

4MW, is also happy with the quality of

service from Umeme.

“The Umeme connection is ok so far.

Our connection to the new Namanve

Substation is a lot more stable than

the previous one to the Kiwanga

Substation. However, Raxio secured

a Ring Main Unit from Umeme and

that means we are connected to both

Kiwanga and Namanve Substations.

This means we have a combination of

the 2 lines which gives us a lot more

uptime,” James says.

He also has positive reviews for the

quality of service.

“The process was quite good and

seamless, to be honest, the only real

delay was the importation of the

RMUs which I would say might have

been due to planning and logistical

issues. We also got very good support

in the process of securing rebates

from ERA. No complaints,” he adds.

Raxio was connected in July 2020

at the height of the Covid-19 first

wave in the Country- but still, Umeme

managed to get Raxio Connected, in

time for their launch in May 2021.

Raxio Data Centre Ltd in the Kampala

Industrial Business Park (KIBP)

Namanve is Uganda’s first privately

run tier 3 data centre in the Country.

Data Centres require 99.99% uptime

and therefore Umeme had to go out

of its way to supply a set of SCADA

ready Ring Main Units (RMUs) and a

metering unit.

Umeme has also deployed an

underground network within Namanve

Industrial park which stretches for

about 25km that will enable industries

within the park to plug onto the grid

with little interruptions from humancaused

network disruptions. The

2,200-acre business park uses up to

about 100MW- which is just about

15% of all the national current peak

demand.

As of October 2020, according to

the Ugandan Investment Authority

(UIA) which runs the park, Sixty-Two

(62) industries were in operation,

directly employing 16,000 Ugandans

while 141 projects had commenced

construction. 84 companies were still

in the pre-start phase while another

28 have just been allocated land.

Umeme


32

Umeme’s Manager for Tororo, Tom

Awuzu on a visit to Tororo Cement

to engage the team at the plant.

PHOTO Joseph balikuddembe/ImagesOfUmeme


33

OPINION

Andrew Mwenda

President Yoweri

Museveni recently

repeated his claim

that officials of the

Government of Uganda

who negotiated the Umeme

concession sold the Country.

It is a belief common

among a large section of

the Ugandan elite including

many inside Government. It

is also a belief that is grossly

mistaken.

Many Ugandans behave like

a man who fell in a deep pit

and called on the neighbour

for help. The neighbor got a

rope and threw it to him for

rescue. During the tangle

to pull him out, the rope

injured the man’s hands,

his legs got bruises etc.

After the rescue the man

keeps complaining against

the neighbour

because of the

wounds inflicted

on him during

the rescue.

In 2001,

Uganda’s

electricity distribution

network was dilapidated

and needed a massive

investment. But Government

did not have money. So it

advertised internationally

for a company to come take

a concession. Six companies

replied – two from Spain,

one from France, another

from UK, another from

USA and a sixth from

South Africa. All were

invited to come and do a

due diligence. They found

the network and policy

environment so bad that all

In 2001, Uganda’s

electricity distribution

network was

dilapidated and needed

a massive investment

of them just walked away

even without the courtesy

of informing Government of

Uganda about their findings

– except one.

CDC, a British Government

parastatal wrote to

Government of Uganda

its findings. They argued

the network had gone

for 30 years without

much investment and

was therefore moribund.

Technical and commercial

losses in the distribution

system were 38% and

growing. The biggest source

of commercial losses were

illegal connections and

Government not paying its

bills. It needed a massive

investment, but that would

require to increase the cost

of electricity to recover

the investment. Yet the

price of electricity had not

changed in a decade in

spite of inflation and foreign

exchange depreciation.

Ugandans were accustomed

to cheap electricity that had

no relationship to the cost

of production, transmission

and distribution – and

believed the price is cheap

Umeme


34

and does not change.

As part of the reforms, Government

had put in place a regulator who

was supposed to be independent.

But when the regulator increased

the cost of electricity, Ugandans

had demonstrated on the streets.

Government had responded by

suspending the increase and thereby

demonstrating the impotence (as

opposed to the independence) of the

regulator. Reducing commercial losses

would require the company to police

illegal connections but that would ruin

its relations with the communities in

which it operated. And it would require

Government to pay its bills, yet there

was no way to force Government to

pay if it defaulted.

Government was stunned. Our

distribution network was not viable

as a business. It sent a delegation to

London to literally beg CDC to come

to its rescue. CDC was skeptical and

insisted it would come and invest only

$5m (non-refundable) for three years

and begin reforming the management

of the system.

If Government demonstrated its

commitment to its own reforms CDC

would extend the concession to seven

years. The World Bank offered money

on an escrow so that if Government did

not pay its bills, CDC would pay itself.

But CDC was not convinced and to

share the risk invited Eskom of South

Africa as a partner. Umeme was born.

Because of these risks and Uganda’s

national risk profile, Umeme negotiated

a rate of return of 20% on its dollar

investments. In the first five years,

Government violated many of the terms

of the agreement. I will not go into

the details but Umeme did not leave.

Slowly it built a robust business on our

distribution network. When it decided

to list on the stock exchange in 2012

and 2017, investors flocked to Uganda

to get a piece of the Umeme pie. A

business that companies were not

willing to take for free in 2001 was now

attracting vast sums of investor money.

Some of the world’s leading equity

funds with over $1.6 trillion worth of

investible cash were kneeling to buy its

shares. It was oversubscribed by 63%.

Because of this public listing, today

36% of Umeme is owned by Ugandans,

of whom 23% are workers saving with

NSSF. Given the president’s interest in

East African integration, it is important

to also add that 55% of Umeme is

owned by East Africans. Therefore, a

significant share of the high returns to

Umeme actually go to the people of

Uganda and their cousins in East Africa.

This is not to say that the Umeme

concession did not have weaknesses.

However most of these were a result of

the weak negotiating position Uganda

occupied at the time, not a result of

incompetence or corrupt intent as the

president and some Ugandan elites

claim.

Under the first concession agreement,

Umeme was supposed to have reduced

electricity losses from 38 percent to 28

percent in the first seven years of the

concession. They reduced them to 24

percent. They were supposed to have

invested US$65 million in the first seven

years; they invested $130 million. They

were supposed to make 60,000 new

connections in the first seven years;

they made 220,000 connections. They

were supposed to increase collection of

revenue from 75 percent to 95 percent;

they reached 98 percent. It is on this

basis that the concession was renewed.

As I write this article in May 2021, total

losses have fallen to 17.5% compared

to Kenya 23% up from 17% seven years

ago, Tanzania above 30%. They have

invested $700 million in the network,

increased connections from 250,000

to 1.5 million, revenue collections are

99.9%, with total revenues of Shs1.7

trillion, with their assets now at Shs2.6

billion. And it employs 1,600 direct

employees and 900 contractors.

Now they have more than 14,000

transformers, 44,000 km of lines. And

the company relies on local staff – with

only five expatriates out of over 2,000

employees.

In a 2015 World Bank review of the

electricity sector in Africa, it was

found that only Uganda’s tariff covers

the costs of capital investment and

operation expenses and makes a

profit. The second Country was

Seychelles which was breaking even.

Across the entire continent all other

nations of Africa make losses and have

to subsidise their power to citizens and

businesses.

At the heart of Uganda’s success in the

electricity market has been Umeme.

It is, therefore, saddening that the

president continues to listen to people

who do not understand how far he

has succeeded in reforming Uganda’s

electricity sector, making it a star and

an example in the whole of Africa.

This opinion piece is sourced from the Independent

Magazine authored by Journalist, Andrew Mwenda.

35

INTERVIEW

“Umeme’s performance since our

initial funding in 2009 is impressive”

IFC (World Bank Group)

Uganda has been a pioneer in Sub-Saharan Africa when

it comes to private sector investments in energy

Private sector investments

are essential for Countries

due to the simple fact that

public resources would be

insufficient to cover the funding needs

of the various sectors of the economy.

In addition to that, the private sector

often brings competition, efficiency,

and international best practice allowing

to improve ways of doing business.

Given its nature, the energy sector is

particularly favorable for private sector

involvement because there is already

ample experience around the world of

successfully tested models. In addition,

the fact that technology has become

very competitive allows Countries

to benefit from lower benchmarked

prices.

Uganda has been a pioneer in Sub-

Saharan Africa when it comes to

private sector investments in energy.

so:

In the early 2000s, Uganda

implemented unbundling reforms

which were aiming at meeting the

growing demand for electricity and

making the power sector financially

sustainable.

This was made possible precisely

by attracting private capital in the

generation and the distribution

segments. The opening of the

distribution sector to the private

investments has directly contributed to

provide UETCL with a credible stream

of revenues, and this has been critical,

for example, to allow the Bujagali

Umeme


36

ENERGY SITUATION

In Africa

Uganda is one of only two

countries in Africa alongside

Seychelles with a financially

sustainable power sector.

WORLD BANK STUDY

SEYCHELLES

UGANDA

45.74 People

MILLION (2020)

37.37 GDP

BILLION USD (2020)

98,462 People

(2020)

1.125 GDP

BILLION USD (2020)

hydro plant to raise private capital

after several years in development, and

several other IPPs after that.

Over $700m have been mobilized for

grid distribution investments over the

past 15 years, while installed generation

capacity grew from 300MW to

approximately over 1.8GW by the end of

2021. All these investments represents

approximately US$2.0bln of private

capital invested (or roughly 20 percent

of Uganda’s annual budget), which

would otherwise have to come from the

fiscus. Furthermore, private investments

also contribute to Government budgets

through payments in taxes or even

dividends in the case of Umeme, for

example, where the Government is the

main shareholder through NSSF.

This interview was conducted with Bernadette TABEKO

Investment Officer, infrastructure

IFC (World Bank Group), August 2021.

But this is not to say private sector

involvement means entirely taking over

from Governments: in reality, Publicprivate-Partnerships

are often necessary

to achieve specific objectives in sectors

where there are high regulatory

constraints and insufficient economic

incentives to attract investors. The

current Electricity Connection Policy

model is a good example of a PPP

that leverages private sector capital

and expertise to accelerate access to

energy.]

The WBG has been involved in Uganda’s

electricity sector since the mid-

2000s, where it has supported GoU in

unbundling reforms. The International

Finance Corporation (IFC), the private

sector arm of the World Bank Group

is also a long-standing partner in

Ugandan’s electricity sector, with

approximately US$300million invested in

the generation and distribution over the

past 15 years.

IFC invested in two main assets: the

250MW Bujagali Hydro plant (1st

privately financed large hydropower

plant in Sub-Saharan Africa) and the

main distribution company Umeme

(where IFC is also a minority shareholder

alongside Ugandan NSSF).

IFC is particularly proud of the impact

of these investments. To give you a few

pointers of the impact so far:

The commissioning of Bujagali in 2012

resolved the supply deficit, which in turn

unlocked further private investments in

the generation segment (with more than

13 IPPs so far), and in the distribution

segment.

37

Nakawa Substation



Umeme


38

Umeme’s performance since our initial funding in 2009 is

impressive:

Cash collection, which is an absolute fundamental for the financial

health of the sector, has improved consistently: losses reduced from

38 percent in 2005 to 17.5 percent in 2020, and collection levels

increased from 75 percent to 99 percent over the same period; these

are remarkable progress that has raised the Uganda power sector as

a flagship example in Sub-Sahara Africa: a WB study has recognized

Uganda as one of only two countries in Africa (with Seychelles), with a

financially sustainable power sector, attesting its solidity and well-managed

framework and its ability to mobilize capital.

Umeme contributed to bringing several best practices, such as the

digitalization of services through prepayment metering and new

environmental and social governance that led to improved network safety.

Umeme has also contributed to deepening the local capital markets with a

successful cross-listing on both Kampala and Nairobi stock exchange back in

2012.

Finally, we are particularly proud to support a true local champion: Umeme is

owned largely by Ugandans (with more than a third local ownership) and managed

by a team of very experienced Ugandan professionals.

We recognize there are still challenges ahead: despite having multiplied the number

of connections by five since the beginning of the concession, access still needs to be

ramped up above the current 30 percent; investments in transmission and load growth

will also be critical. These are all areas where the private sector could play a role, and IFC

remains committed to working with Uganda to leverage current success and tackle these

challenges.

The two main problems facing developing countries are the need to create jobs and support

the expansion of industries; this is particularly challenging for Uganda, a dense Country with

the youngest population in the world. Therefore, energy will be at the cornerstone of this

development agenda.

Investments in energy will directly and indirectly contribute to those objectives. For example,

Upgrading and expanding the network contribute to improve the quality of service and help

various industries become more productive, price-competitive and trickle back in the economy;

These investments also have indirect benefits to the population because it is lessening the financial

burden on the taxpayers.

We hope to be able to support Uganda in further expanding electricity access and reaching more

people, with more affordable energy.

This interview was conducted with Bernadette TABEKO

Investment Officer, infrastructure

IFC (World Bank Group), August 2021.

39

Deconstructing the myth of

power tariffs

Professor Samuel SSejjaka

Umeme


40

Karuma Hydro Power Station

PHOTO Courtesy/UEGCL

It is also important to note that

whether the energy is generated and

transmitted or not, there are operational

and maintenance (O&M) costs, and

financing costs that have to be paid.

41

Deconstructing the

myth of power tariffs

Following two decades of concerted

investments by both Government

and the private sector into especially

electricity generation, Uganda’s supply,

now exceeds demand—at least for

(5) Solar PV power plants. With supply

and distribution reliability issues largely

resolved, Government has now set

upon solving the pertinent issue of

affordability. Government is targeting

and must objectively factor in, both the

historical, present and future economics

of efficiently generating, transmitting,

distributing and administering

the power on one hand as well as

now. Even in terms of energy security,

Uganda has since diversified from overreliance

on hydro.

Today, a total of thirty-three (33) power

plants currently dispatch power to

the national grid. These included four

(4) large hydropower plants, nineteen

(19) small hydropower plants, two

(2) thermal (Heavy Fuel Oil – HFO)

power plants, three (3) bagasse-based

cogeneration power plants, and five

to achieve at least US Cents 5 per KWh,

especially for industrial consumers- a

price, Government argues, and power

companies agree is necessary for the

competitiveness of Uganda’s goods and

services.

In this article, Prof. Samuel Sejjaaka, the

Team Leader at MAT Abacus Business

School, argues that while affordable

power tariffs are mission-critical, any

lasting solution should not be imposed

stimulating and sustaining efficient

demand and access on the other.

In the State of the Nation address of

June 04th 2021, H.E. the President

stated that ‘the cost of electricity is

distorted by mistakes committed by

some of our actors …. Especially the

mistakes of Bujagaali and Umeme,

(which) add 55.3% to the cost of

electricity per unit. Otherwise, the

cost of power from Kiira is US cents

Umeme


42

1.19per unit, Nalubaale – US cents

1.119per unit, Isimba-US cents 4.16per

unit, Karuma-US cents 4.97 per unit;

but Bujagaali US cents 8.30 per

unit. Bujagaali, at one time, was US

cents13.8 per unit.’

The assertions and concern of H.E.

the President do carry a lot of weight

and implications for the economy.

These concerns are valid, because

without access to cheap energy, our

industrial and agricultural production

continue to be uncompetitive, and our

households continue to use kerosene

which is a health hazard. But what has

gone wrong and what should we do?

First it is important to have a

historical context to this problem.

The Nalubaale HEP station (formerly

Owen Falls) was commissioned in

1954 and has a capacity of 180MW. It

was not until 1993 that work started

on the Kiira HEP station. The latter

was commissioned in 2003 and

completed in 2007 with a capacity of

200MW. The Kiira HEP Station (also

known as the Third Power Project)

was financed by GOU, with assistance

from the World Bank and International

Development Association (IDA) which

provides concessional financing for

poor countries. These facilities are

also largely debt free, considering

that they have been around for quite

some time.

In 2002, the Government of Uganda

(GOU), undertook a restructuring

of the then Uganda Electricity

Board (UEB). As a result of this so

called ‘unbundling’ which created

three companies UEGCL, UETCL

and UEDCL) the Uganda Electricity

Generation Company, a 100 percent

parastatal, awarded a 20-year

operational, management, and

maintenance concession to Eskom

Uganda Limited, a subsidiary of

Eskom, the South African energy

company, to cover both Kiira Power

Station and nearby Nalubaale Power

Station. Eskom sells the electricity it

generates to the Uganda Electricity

Transmission Company Limited

(UETCL), the authorized single buyer.

UETCL resells the power to Umeme,

the energy distributor.

A comparison of the unit cost US

Cents/KWh between the various

power plants, therefore, in the

absence of contextualizing the

reliability, tariff and funding structure,

age and other technical dimensions of

the power plants does not on its own

provide an accurate basis from which

the contribution of the plants towards

the economy of Uganda should be

compared.

Bujagali was competitively solicited

as a privately financed project (a

public-private partnership). This means

that its method of financing was

“non- recourse financing”. This type

of financing model means that the

project’s lenders were not lending into

the Government of Uganda but were

lending directly to the project and

relying on the project to repay their

debt. This meant that the lenders were

assuming a higher level of risk than

would normally be assumed if lending

to a sovereign state because no

Government guarantees, or collateral

was provided outside the scope of

the project’s assets. This also meant

that the project absorbed all preoperation

costs including development

costs, interest and financing costs

during construction which lasted

form 2007 (financial close) to 2012

(commissioning). The total project cost

run up to USD 902 million, of which

USD 616 million were engineering,

procurement and construction (EPC)

costs.

In order for the financing of Bujagali

to be secured, the BEL (the PPP) and

the Government had to enter into a

power purchase agreement (PPA)

that would guarantee cashflows to

repay the debt incurred. There are

different forms that these PPA’s

take. The simplest are capacity and

energy agreements. The former,

which GOU and BEL entered into is a

guarantee to pay for the full capacity

of the power plant, whether power

is evacuated or not. The second (the

energy PPA) guarantees the power

producer that all energy generated

will be evacuated and paid for. Other

hybrids exist but we need not bother

with them here.

Based on the capacity agreement

entered into by BEL and GOU, the

quoted price of energy becomes

a function of how much energy

is evacuated by the transmission

company, UETCL. The more energy

transmitted, the lower the cost per

kilowatt hour. This then is the crux

of the Bujagali project. Over time,

energy evacuation from Bujagali has

averaged about 65 -70% of available

capacity, meaning that costs remain

high as greater economies are not

achieved. If Bujagali’s base load was

being dispatched by UETCL at its

full potential, then the cost would be

between 5 - 6 US cents/KWh. This is

clearly illustrated in the graph below

43

which shows energy supply and

demand for April 2020 to April 2021.

It is also important to note that

whether the energy is generated

and transmitted or not, there are

operational and maintenance (O&M)

costs, and financing costs that have

to be paid. These include such inputs

like lubricants, insurance, labour

and spares. These costs tend to be

insignificant (2-4%) with size except

for financing costs and the agreed

return on investment. Bujagali’s

operating and maintenance costs

translate to a mere 0.32 US Cents/

KWh. But factoring in the full debt

service costs results in a much

higher unit cost per KWh on the

Government and by extension the

end-user. What is also not usually

articulated in determining the end

user cost is the impact of taxes.

The cost of Isimba of 4.16 US cents/

KWh and Karuma of 4.97 US cents/

KWh, only takes into consideration

the reported energy charges to

the sector but does not consider

that the capital cost associated

with the reported USD 1.93bn of

loans (USD1.28bn concessional and

USD0.65bn commercial – excluding

transmission works) that cannot

be serviced through the energy

charges will be borne directly by the

Government of Uganda, who in turn

generate their revenues from taxes

paid by the same end users.

If we aggregate the total energy

production for the period (April 2020

through to April 2021) in our graph

above, we will note that, Bujagali

contributed 40.4% of the total energy

generated from these plants, while

Isimba and Owen falls contributed

25.0% and 34.6% respectively. On

the other hand, Karuma has been

significantly delayed and is now in

its 9th year of construction and the

cost of these delays are yet to be

quantified. It therefore becomes

difficult to make the comparisons

that H.E the President made

without adjusting for the peculiar

circumstances of each project. Table

1 below shows the capacity of active

stations and dispatch.

What then are the lessons that need

to be learnt from the foregoing?

First is the fact that when the process

of structural adjustment was in full

gear, GOU was in a poor bargaining

position. It did not have the resources

to fund the Bujagali HEP construction

or rehabilitate the distribution grid,

and that is how Umeme Limited

was invited, nor could we as a

Country afford any further delays.

This is how some functions were

therefore concessioned to the

private sector, at private sector

terms that among others include

guaranteeing returns on investment

to the project sponsors. It is now

counter intuitive to say that these

were bad deals when we negotiated

them with open eyes. The correct

course of action therefore would be

to reduce the costs of energy from

Bujagali by ensuring all its production

is dispatched through the grid by

UETCL. This would reduce the cost to

about 5 US cents/KWh.

Secondly, we must note that Uganda

did not have the skills to negotiate

these deals and the risks of rent

seeking were very high as we saw in

the case of AES the parties accused

of impropriety were Ugandans and

this is a sticking point for us as it

led to the eventual collapse of the

previous AES effort at Bujagali (10

years with finally no result which

necessitated the retendering and

eventual award to BEL). Many bad

decisions are a result of self-interest

rather than national interest. We

have seen this in the case of driving

permits, national identity cards

and motor vehicle inspections. The

elephant in the room was always selfinterest

for which the protagonists

were paid pittances.

The third lesson for us is that

infrastructure projects that have a

long-term payback, but immense

socio-economic impact ought

to be funded from our budget’s

capital expenditure envelope or on

concessionary terms if we have to

borrow. The Bujagali HEP station,

like many ongoing road projects

have been financed using nonconcessional

funds. It is therefore

absurd to cry ‘wolf’ after signing on

the dotted line.

A varying view to this, it must

be noted, is that the even with

such projects, when we use nonconcessional

funds, we must ensure

we are able to maximize the utility

of such projects so as to reduce the

unit costs while increasing the ease

of serviceability of our commitments.

Indeed, there are many projects for

which we have borrowed funds and

failed to utilize the said funds while

incurring commitment and penalty

fees. We need more efficiency in

our public investment programs

PIP). A world bank report (Economic

Update: Managing Uganda’s Public

Investment Better Will Bring Higher

Returns, 2016) noted that Uganda

PIP’s, like most in Sub-Saharan Africa,

faced efficiency gaps of up to 30%-

in other words, Uganda is losing,

on average, US 30 cents per USD 1

invested in her PIPs.

Lastly, we need to note that

tariffs are a composition of many

things. These include the energy

source (fossil, water, solar),

capacity, transmission, distribution,

administration, pollution, congestion

(peak vs. non-peak) and taxes. This

then takes back to the unlayering

and liberalization of the sector. Did

we benefit from liberalizing the

energy sector? Yes, because we were

able to allow actors with financing

to enter the market and compete.

We were also able to significantly

increase the supply of power and

do away with the incessant load

shedding. Indeed, our problem has

changed from capacity to effective

demand (see table 1 above). No,

because the delayering of the supply

chain increased intermediation costs

at the three levels of generation,

transmission and distribution. But

then again that is the nature of

Umeme


44

economic decisions; there will always be an upside

and downside. You cannot choose one without the

other.

The 250MW Bujagali HydroPower Dam (on top)

constructed by largely non-concessional commercial

debt and the Government owned 183MW Isimba

Hydro Power Dam, constructed using highly

concessional Government borrowing. Prof. Samuel

Sejjaaka argues that while Isimba produces power

at a seemingly low 4.16 US cents/KWh, compared

to Bujagaali’s US cents 8.30 per unit (it used to

be US cents13.8 per unit, before Government led

refinancing of the project in 2018), comparing the

two is a case of comparing apples to oranges. He

argues that while Government infrastructure projects

with immense socio-economic impact but with

long-term payback such as power dams, should

have been financed from the Government’s capital

expenditure resource envelope, in the first place;

the role of private sector capital in helping Uganda

overcoming the energy crisis of the 2000s and

attaining capacity surplus, ought not to be swept

under the carpet.

45

UGANDA

For the fourth consecutive year,

Uganda’s electricity sector is

Africa’s best regulated across

a number of key metrics,

according to the African Development

Bank’s 2021 Electricity Regulatory

Index. Other strong performers include

East African neighbours, Kenya and

Tanzania, as well as Namibia and Egypt.

The 2021 Electricity Regulatory Index,

an annual report, covered 43 countries,

up from 36 in the previous edition,

and assessed their impact on the

performance of their electricity sectors.

The index covered 3 countries in the

North Africa region; 14 in West Africa; 6

in Central Africa; 7 in East Africa; and 13

in the Southern Africa region.

“The unprecedented participation of so

many countries shows the commitment

to strengthen the countries’ regulatory

environment with a view to improving

the performance of the respective

electricity sectors,” said Dr. Kevin

Kariuki, the African Development Bank’s

Vice President for Power, Energy,

Climate and Green Growth.

Among the 2021 report’s key highlights

are that regulatory independence

is one sub-indicator where African

countries have room to improve: in 93%

of sampled countries, Governments,

and stakeholders exercise influence

over regulatory authorities. In terms

of regulatory substance, participating

countries scored lowest on adequacy

of their tariff setting and frameworks,

as well as licensing frameworks when

compared with best practice.

According to the report, the average

performance on economic regulation

has continued to decline since 2018. A

Umeme


46

third of countries surveyed indicated

they lack methodologies to determine

tariffs; another 40% rely on tariff

methodologies that do not include

key attributes such as automatic

tariff adjustment and tariff indexation

mechanisms and schedule for major

tariff reviews.

Wale Shonibare, African Development

Bank Director for Energy Financial

Solutions, Policy and Regulation,

commended the top-performing

Country. “Uganda topping the rankings

consecutively for four years comes as

no surprise to many, as the regulator

spends significant time on consultation

and analysis, including regulatory

impact assessments of key interventions

and follow-through to ensure full

implementation,” he said.

Outside stakeholders also viewed the

report’s results positively. Eng. Abel

Didier Tella, Director General of the

Association of Power Utilities of Africa,

said, “It is interesting that the utilities in

most of the top-performing countries

in the Electricity Regulatory Index are

listed on their national stock exchanges,

which requires compliance with

transparency in information sharing and

good governance practice.”

Since its launch in 2018, the Electricity

Regulatory Index has highlighted

aspects of electricity regulation that

need reform, identified appropriate

areas for intervention, and encouraged

stakeholders to be proactive in

addressing challenges. Since then,

the index has been widely adopted

by regulators and other stakeholders

across the continent as a benchmark for

the regulatory environment as well as

for ongoing reforms.

Electricity Transmission

Infrastructure in Africa

TOPS

PHOTO Courtesy/Web

Africa Development Bank

African Development Bank’s

Electricity Regulatory Index for

fourth consecutive year

AFRICA DEVELOPMENT BANK STUDY

“Uganda topping the rankings consecutively for

four years comes as no surprise to many, as the

Regulator spends significant time on consultation and

analysis, including regulatory impact assessments of

key interventions and follow-through to ensure full

implementation.”

47

Children at the SOS Village help

in collecting part of the household

items donated by Umeme



UMEME

COMMUNITY

inthe

We delight in being apart of the commmunities we serve through meaningful ways that impact

society for the greater good. This year, among other CSR drives we supported SOS Children’s

Village in Gulu City. This is our act of giving back to the community.

Umeme


48

49

In a drive to support the green agenda,

Umeme ignited various partnerships

with Cities and stakeholders across the

Country to regree through planting

trees i the journey of environmental

sustainability.

Running as part of its U-Green efforts, the

utility started its greening efforts with Gulu

City and planted 200 Tabebuia chrysotricha

(pink trumpet) trees along Ring Road as

a proactive measure to support the City’s

ecosystem.Umeme’s Managing Director

Selestino Babungi says trees trees that are

planted in the Cities such as Gulu play a key

role in cooling the streets, aesthetics, air

quality and biodiversity conservation among

others.

Umeme believes that supporting the

Cities will help to cultivate a culture of

environmental conservation amongst

its staff and the communities in which it

operates.

“As a business we are keen on sustainability

and the green agenda. In line with this,

we are partnering with different Cities

beginning with the City of Gulu to plant

trees and support the City’s environmental

sustainability efforts in this journey.

Urban forestry has been sighted as one

of the action areas to achieving the UN

SDGs 2030 goal 11 on sustainable Cities and

communities.

Besides, Uganda through the Ministry of

Water and Environment (MoWe) declared

the next 10 years as decade for action. The

Country has as also set a target to plant

40 million trees. Through the action of

planting trees today in Gulu city, Umeme is

contributing to these targets.

Gulu City Resident City Commissioner

Denis Odongpiny says. “Environmental

conservation is very important and we have

a plan to make Gulu a green City and we

shall continue working in partnership with

Umeme.”

He commended Umeme for stabilizing

power supply in the new city which will spur

growth and create jobs for the youth.

Babungi says climate change was not mere

COMM

talk because the World is experiencing a lot

of challenges due to human activity such

as deforestation and encroachment on

wetlands among others.

This would be commendable if it was an

indicator of Africa’s energy efficiency,

however in reality, it is an indication of

Africa’s “energy poverty”.

change, but this will only happen if we

implement decisive and sustained reductions

in greenhouse gas emissions in the next 20

years or so.

“We find this a very important cause to plant

trees,” he says.

Thulani S. Gcabashe, Founder and Executive

Chairman BuiltAfrica Holdings while speaking

recently at the sustainable Energy Mkutano

alludes the increase in concentration of

greenhouse gases.

Whereas North America accounts for 29% of

global emissions, the EU 22%, and Asia 29%,

Africa only accounts for just under 3% of

emissions (and 2% of global coal demand).

The inter-Governmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) issued a Red Alert on climate

change impact.

“What this essentially indicated is that we

are almost out of time if we are to reach the

target of reducing the rate of increase in the

rise in global temperatures by 1.5 degrees

centigrade in order to achieve net-zero

increase by 2050.”

However, Mr Thulani says the good news

is that there is still time to limit climate

Umeme Ltd launched a long-term tree

planting initiative “U-Green” to mitigate

the impact of climate change on the

environment and inspire community action

on environmental conservation.

Through this initiative, Umeme collaborates

with NGOs, Schools and Government entities

to implement tree planting projects around

the Country championed by a “U-Green

Club” comprised of members of staff.

Umeme


50

Umeme reached out to

SOS Children’s Village

with an assortment of

scholastic materials

including textbooks, laptop

computers, exercise books and

homecare utensils worth UGX44.5

million.

The Corporate Social Responsibility

initiative was aimed at giving

back to the communities with in

which the company operates in

by supporting the disadvantaged

children at the SOS children’s home

with online learning materials.

Selestino Babungi, the Umeme

Managing Director says giving back

to the communities is an act of

humanity.

He commends the SOS model

which for raise children in a family

setting and also supporting

children in the communities there

by giving them a chance at life.

“We are interested in seeing

these children utilize these gifts

to improve on their learning

environment and also support

their career growth. Umeme Staff

contribute towards these causes

and the Company tops up,” he

says.

Former SOS Children’s Villages

in Uganda National Director

Olive Birungi Lumonya says,

“We are taking care of a number

of vulnerable children in the

community. Umeme’s hand of help

to SOS Gulu is great support to us

especially in the current times of

online learning. Our organization

UNITY

currently looks after 628 children

in our locations and over 12,000 in

the communities.”

Ms Lumonya says without the

support of friends like Umeme,

these children wouldn’t stand a

chance.

“Umeme’s willingness to provide

the necessary requirements for

these children to attain a descent

education is helping us change the

future for many underprivileged

children. From now on, Umeme has

become part of these children’s

lives, and we look forward to taking

this partnership further,” she says.

SOS Children’s Villages

International was started in 1949

after World War II by Hermann

Gmeiner, a child welfare worker.

In Uganda, SOS Children’s Villages

have been in operation since 1989

with 4 locations now namely, Kakiri,

Entebbe, Gulu and FortPortal.

The home operates under 2

models: Family Like Care where

they take in children who have

lost parental care or are at risk of

losing parental care and Family

Strengthening Programme where

they equip families within their

communities to be able to sustain

themselves and raise children

within their biological settings.

At the SOS children’s village, the

Umeme family spent quality time

with the SOS children’s home

in Gulu, and carried support to

aid and improve their learning

environment.

51

Comm

UMEME

IN THE

SUPPORT

Umeme


52

We delight in being apart of the

commmunities we serve through

meaningful ways that impact

society for the greater good.

www.umeme.co.ug

FUTURE

LOVE

unity

GENEROSITY

53

D

The MD of Umeme,

Selestino Babungi shares a

light moment with Angelina*

during his visit to the Village



Umeme


54

UMEME IN THE COMMUNITY

CSR SUPPORT

44.5

UGX MILLION

Financial support

to SOS Children’s

Village in Gulu as

part of our CSR

drives.

BY THE NUMBERS

SOS CHILDREN’S

VILLAGE

GULU

628

Children at the Village

Donated Laptop computers to

enhance the Children’s online

learning experience

Gave an assortment of books

and text books to aid in the

Children’s learning

Provided assortment of

homecare and child-care

ammenities

SOS Children’s Villages International was

started in 1949 after World War II by Hermann

Gmeiner, a child welfare worker.

55

Jonathan Adengo

Umeme reassures

of more investments to

drive industrialization.

Umeme has reiterated its

commitment of driving

distribution efficiencies

to ensure reliable and

affordable electricity supply to

support Uganda’s industrialization

drive and access to clean energy.

Speaking at the 9th Annual General

Meeting (AGM) held on Thursday

in Kampala, Mr. Patrick Bitature,

the Board Chairman, said Umeme’s

strategy is aligned with the

Government’s electrification agenda

outlined in NDP 3, focused on access

to clean energy, affordability and

reliable supply for industry.

“Affordable Electricity tariffs for

industry remains a critical input

to attract industrial investment in

Uganda. We recognized, the current

prices reflect the cost structures for

electricity generations, transmission

and distribution spread over the

consumption base.

Umeme remains committed to playing

its part of the equation through driving

distribution efficiencies, increasing

consumption and system investments

to evacuate the increased generation

capacity. We are completely aligned

with the people of Uganda and the

Government in driving the Country

electrification agenda. It is in our

interest that we have a sustainable

electricity supply industry,” Mr.

Bitature explained.

Bitature says even with the difficult

circumstances, Umeme has

transformed for the better and for the

people.

Umeme


56

$119M

Project changes life in

Entebbe

Umeme constructed a USD 2 million

Substation in Nakasamba, Entebbe.

Residents of Entebbe Municipality are

now enjoying better electricity services

following Umeme’s construction of

a 20MVA Substation in Nakasamba,

Entebbe. This followed a collaboration

with National Water and Sewerage

Corporation that provided land on

which the facility sits.

At the launch of the works, Mr

Johnson Okochi, Umeme’s Projects

Investment Manager said. “This project

will take 5 months to complete and

will cost a total investment of USD 1.5

million about Ugx 5 billion.”

The new Substation now caters for

new electricity load demands and

power reliability in Entebbe.

Emmanuel Mujuni from National Water

and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC)

said that the new Substation came in

handy to guarantee stable supply to

their recently upgraded water pumps.

“This will guarantee stable power since

we recently upgraded our systems

with higher capacity and efficient

water pumps” Mujuni said.

Entebbe is a vibrant area with key

installations like the Airport, factories,

recreational centres and many

upcoming industrial facilities.

“This gesture by NWSC is key in

building synergies to deliver such

critical services, especially for us in

the utilities sector,” said Peter Kaujju

Umeme’s Head of Communications.

The Utility has now invested in

74 power stations and built over

44,000km of Medium and low Voltage

network, installed 14,833 distribution

transformers including 1.6 million

metering points.

The Company has invested over USD

739m in the distribution network to

ensure safe, efficient and reliable

electricity supply.

Eng. Francis Mugerwa, Project Lead

Nakasamba Substation, Entebbe

Residents of Entebbe

City should look to

better electricity services

following the construction

of a 20MVA Nakasamba.

57

TRANSFORMERS

OF SOCIETY

Nakasamba Substation



Umeme


58

NAKASAMBA Substation

Nakasamba Substation, a new facility which is

impacting communities in Entebbe.

The 20MVA Substation supplies National

Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC)

plant in Entebbe as well as a dedicated feed

to Entebbe International Airport and powers

the locality.

BY THE NUMBERS

69,958

Population of Entebbe City

(UBOS, 2014)


and services across Entebbe

City.

Extending an additional

Power feed to the Entebbe

International Airport.

Giving a dedicated power

line to National Water &

sewerage Corporation Plant

in Entebbe.

ENTEBBE

CENTRAL UGANDA

59

ELECTR

DISTRIBUTION

North-East

44,000 KM

Umeme Footprint

covering 4 regions

of operation

Western

Kampala

West

Kampala

East

We are in

several Towns

& Villages

99 %

of our

customers

are on Yaka

prepaid

metering

52

We run 47 Service

Centres across our

footprint in Uganda

6K

Shareholders,

NSSF being

highest at

23%

Umeme Tech Brian Okello



Umeme


60

BREAKING NEW GROUNDS IN

ICITY

2500

Labour Force

100 % Ugandans

74

Rehabilitated &

constructed 74 Power

Stations todate to

improve supply reliability

Increased the

customer base six-fold

from 250,000 in 2005

to over 1.6 million now

1.6

MILLION

Our investment strategy is premised

on our desire to ensure delivery of

reliable electricity supply, reduction

of technical losses, improving safety

of the network and grid expansion

to accommodate growth in demand.

In the year ended, 2020, we

invested US$ 75 million in capital

projects including: 7 substations,

5 Integration lines, 77 transformer

zone improvements, conversion of

168,000 customers to prepayment

metering and several system and

network protection projects.

17 years

of service

International, Regional

and National Accolades

Uganda is one of only two

countries in Africa alongside

Seychelles with a financially

sustainable power sector.

WORLD BANK STUDY

SEYCHELLES

UGANDA

45.74 People

MILLION (2020)

37.37 GDP

BILLION USD (2020)

98,462 People

(2020)

1.125 GDP

BILLION USD (2020)

Umeme

atSERVICE

Umeme’s critical work has made the

sector financially sustainable. The power

distributor is leading the charge in Africa

61

THE POWER IS RIGHT IN

YOUR HANDS

Online electricity

application ease service

Jonathan Adengo

The online application for

electricity connections

introduced by Umeme last year

has registered growing numbers

but also made the process

simpler and efficient for customers.

“I am glad I do not need to go to the

branch,” says Jackson Obwapus who

recently finished building a house.

The platform dubbed myumemeonline

enables one apply from anywhere, at any

time on either a computer, a tab, a laptop

or the iPad. This comes in handy as entities

generate convenient solutions.

One can use the platform on their mobile

device phone if they download the Umeme

App. An applicant can track the progress

of their application with the tracking

number provided after submission of the

application.

Umeme’s Managing Director Selestino

Babungi says over the years, Umeme

has contributed significantly towards

the improvement in distribution and the

electricity sector of Uganda.

“We introduced prepayment billing (Yaka)

and as we speak 99% of our customers

are on Yaka prepaid metering. We also

established a 24/7 contact centre to deal

with customers’ challenges. We have

now automated the customer application

process which allows customers to be

served digitally without going through the

trouble of coming to our offices,” Babungi

says.

He adds that Umeme has improved

efficiencies of the customer touch points

by continuously innovating to eliminate

congestion at the offices and through use

of technology and going cashless.

Former State Minister for Energy Simon

D’Ujang says this was a timely innovation

by Umeme.

He says Government adopted a strategy

to build cheaper power generation plants

in order to lower the tariffs which are a

function of increased consumption.

Umeme


62

Browsing Umeme’s

online space

PHOTO Joseph Balikuddembe/ImagesOfUmeme


FIND US

ONLINE

99 %

of our customers

are on Yaka

prepaid metering

Contact Centre to

handle cuctomers

timely

Social Media

Spaces

www.umeme.co.ug/myumemeonline

63

VANDALISM,

A COSTLY

VICE

Mbaga Tuzinde

Despite these investments, the sector continues to grapple

with rampant cases of vandalism of power transmission and

distribution infrastructure. The vandals are deliberately sabotaging

the electricity access agenda that Government embarked on to

ensure electricity for all by 2030. They compromise the reliability,

continuity and stability of power supply.

26

BN LOST

IN VANDALISM

ASSET REPLACEMENT COSTS

REDUCTION ON GRID EXTENSION

INCREASES TARRIF

Eng. Seruwagi Fred inspects

a vandalised Alenga-Itigo

Line in Apac District



Umeme


64

Vandalism of

infrastructure is

increasingly becoming

a challenge to the

Country. The electricity, water,

communication, and road

sectors have all been affected

by the vice. Taking a look at the

electricity sector in particular;

Recently, vandals in a daring

move pulled down three

transmission towers in Mukono

wiping out 80MW worth of

generated power off the grid.

The line evacuates 180MW

from Nalubaale Power Station,

formerly known as Owen Falls

Dam to the Lugogo Substation

The incident left of vandal dead!

On the same day, they made

away with 3,000 metres of

cables from a line in Kasenyi – in

western Uganda.

The Karuma Transmission

Evacuation line has also been

vandalized on several occasions,

causing huge financial loss and

delaying progress of completion

of the line. Every year, many

distribution transformers are

vandalized and the various

components used for different

activities. The communications

infrastructure has not been

spared either with fibre being

stolen, and masts destroyed,

causing internet outage in

different places while road

signs communicating important

messages have been uprooted.

Between 2016 and 2020, more

than Shs 20 billion worth of

distribution assets (transformers,

stay wires, overhead and

underground conductors) has

been either stolen or destroyed.

The cost of vandalism is too

huge, both direct and indirect.

The destroyed infrastructure

has to be restored and usually,

the cost of such replacement is

met by the tax payer or the rate

payer. In the electricity sector,

the sector regulator has to

provide for resources to restore

such assets, usually, through

the tariff. In addition, the lives

of persons within the vicinity of

vandalized assets are at stake as

the possibility of electrocution

(even for the vandals) is high.

Indirectly, the cost of vandalism

is immense.

An outage brought about by

vandalism of the transmission

infrastructure may result into

national outages that greatly

impact negatively on the

business sector revenues, but

can also lead to loss of lives for

people on life support machines

in medical facilities. Insecurity

during the course of outages

and terrible customer experience

are some other hard-to-quantify

costs of vandalism.

Government has made

considerable efforts in fighting

the vice. It has provided security

to critical infrastructure such as

Substations.

A special utilities court has also

been set up to try those involves

in vandalizing of utility assets.

Utility companies have also

dedicated more resources to

securing the assets and gone

ahead to engage communities

to protect these assets as their

own. However, the vandals have

also become more sophisticated

in operation, hence the need for

serious reconsideration of lasting

solutions to these problems;

Deliberate efforts should be

made by utility companies to

constantly engage the local

communities to consider these

infrastructure assets as their own

and guard them jealously.

The local councils should make

deliberate efforts in working to

ensure that suspicious people

getting near or trying to access

such infrastructure are asked to

identify themselves.

Government should also enact

harsher punishments for those

convicted of vandalism so

that vandals are discouraged

from the vice. In some cases,

vandalism is as dangerous as

terrorism since its effect can

be as severe such as cutting of

power from security installations.

Laws therefore should be

amended to provide for heftier

punishments to offenders in

order to discourage others from

involvement in such activity.

Markets for the vandalized

assets should be identified

and monitored continuously.

Factories using vandalized

materials should be shamed

and commercial remedies

sought from such factories and

industries. By cracking down on

users of the vandalized materials,

the demand for such will subside.

The security agencies especially

the intelligence services should

pick specific interest in vandalism

and use the village structures to

monitor characters that may be

involved in vandalism and take

necessary action.

Government could consider

setting up a special police unit,

the Utility Police (like it is the

case with the Environment

Police) to specifically tackle

this problem. A cost-benefit

analysis of having such a force

can be undertaken before such a

decision is taken.

65

The electricity sector has been and continues to evolve

with a number of stakeholders playing a very vital

role to drive generation, transmission and distribution.

Umeme remains a key partner working with other sector

players to ensure reliable supply of electricity in the Country.

Of late, vandalism is at the centrestage of discussions

amongst the stakeholders and collective efforts to fight the

vice continue in ernest.

DRIVING SERVICE THROUGH

stakeholder engagements

Umeme sensitises cyclists about the electricity application

process in the Central Business District of Mbale City during a

Community outreach drive in the region on electricity services.

The drive which was launched in Mbale City covering Mutufu

all the way upto Wanale hill was later rolled-out to the entire

Country.

Selestino Babungi, Umeme’s

Managing Director

engages Members of the

Environment and Natural Resources

Committee of Parliament during a

guided

tour through electricity projects

across

Kampala.

These are critical engagements for

Umeme and Government as key

patners in development.

In 2021, we engaged

with stakeholders

across our business

footprint to hear

them ou but also

share information

on electricity service

Umeme


66

Fort-Portal City Member

of Parliament Hon. Alex

Ruhunda interacts with

Umeme’s Managing

Director Selestino

Babungi during the

commissioning of the

Fort-Portal Service

Centre.

The Executive Director of

the Electricity Regulatory

Authority (ERA), Eng. Ziria

Tibalwa Wako submits as

one of the panelists at the

electricity baraza organized

to create awareness about

the energy sector.

67

expanding electricity access

The Minister of Energy and Mineral

Development , Hon Ruth Nankabirwa

commissioning free connections in Luuka

District with funding from the African

Development Bank and the European Union.

At the event, the Minister handed over

material procured under the Rural

Electrification Program (REAP) to Umeme to

kick-off the connections.

Umeme


68

69

STOP VANDALISM

The Electricity Act, 1999 criminalises the action – prescribing a fine not

exceeding 30 (thirty) currency points (Shs 600,000) or three years’

imprisonment or both for those convicted of destroying power supply lines.

Umeme


70

Report cases to Police or call

TOLL

FREE

0800285285

Umeme Limited is regulated by the Electricity Regulatory Authority

71

FEATURE

WOMEN IN

Electricity

FLORENCE NSUBUGA, Chief of Operations at Umeme

Limited and her journey at Uganda’s leading power

distributor

JONATHAN ADENGO

tracked her story

John C. Maxwell an American author, speaker, and pastor who

has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership said, “A

leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

The statement can almost be used to describe

what has been a guide to one of the longest

custodians of the electricity industry in Uganda -

Florence Nsubuga.

Keeping the lights on takes more than just knowledge, but

the will and desire to stay motivated, driving hundreds of

teams to play their role to ensure the ship keeps sailing.

Florence Nakimbugwe Nsubuga has been the Chief

Operations Officer (COO) at Umeme since 2012. She

has served in the role for 10 years, also doubling as the

Executive Director, all busy portfolios. Naturally, the COO

role comes with a challenging task making sure the chains

of command and operations are well oiled to make sure

that there is continuity of service. But, one may ask, what

motivated her to take on a career in what many describe

as a male dominated field, given the precarious task of

climbing poles and playing with cables carrying a very

important yet dangerous commodity – electricity.

“When I joined the energy sector, I remember at the time,

you had to train across the whole business. One of the

trainings involved climbing poles, because of the nature

of the business, majority of the employees were actually

men,” she says.

Adding, “There were very few women at the top. If I recall,

those included the Head of HR, the Head of Internal Audit,

and the Chief Corporate Planner.”

But what guided her from then was the drive that she had,

and it was a goal to achieve more and also make money.

So, she did everything that she had to do with hard work

and delivered.

But what really helped her deliver on the tasks given to

her was having a growth mindset.

Florence narrates that one time she took on an

assignment which was unchartered waters. The Company

Umeme


72

was changing their billing system and

this was new territory, not known to her.

And she endeavored to learn.

“This one thing, -openness to learn

turned out to be very critical, as far as

growth is concerned, a growth mindset,”

she says.

“And that points me to one of the books

that I read recently, during the COVID

period, it says take every day as a

learning opportunity. And that is very key

to have a growth mindset. Because at

times you’re presented with a situation,

it may not be your area of expertise. But

your ability to learn continuously and

keep reinventing yourself will take you

places,” Florence says.

Having a growth mindset has opened

doors for her. Early in her career she

was presented with an opportunity of a

Middle Manager role heading the largest

districts in the Umeme network, Kampala

North.

“I was 26 at the time and I was scared

because I was leading people who were

much older than me. But because of that

drive that clarity of what it is that I was

chasing, and wanted to earn and more, I took

the role,” she says.

And this task kickstarted her journey to

visibility because she was managing a critical

part of the business where she was not only

responsible for the profitability of the business

but also included managing people.

“For me, it hasn’t been an easy journey, I have

made a couple of mistakes along the way, which

have enabled me to learn,” she says.

It was not easy at first but having a growth mindset

and learning from her mistakes, engaging her team gave

her an opportunity to draw a couple of lessons in terms

of leading people and understanding the capabilities of

the teams that she was leading.

“I remember the first time I started the journey to

understanding who I was, which was also a journey.

I decided to get feedback from the team. I did a

questionnaire and tried to get

feedback, it was anonymous, so

that everybody could give me

the feedback. And when I got

the feedback, I tried to make out

who said what. I did not take the

feedback very well. But I thought

it was very important and it was

the start of my journey to selfawareness,”

she says

SELF-AWARENESS

Florence says before she started

her journey to self-awareness, she

used to think she was the only

person who could do the job. “And

I worked hard as an individual. But I

didn’t work smart. So, the transition

from managing a task to managing

people was quite a challenge.

Because I ended up looking at

seeing myself in the people that

I led, and not understanding the

strength of everyone and bringing

them together to achieve a common

goal,” she says.

As you grow up self-awareness,

very key, it’s very critical. Because

it enables you to have that emotional

intelligence, where whatever situation

you’re in, you’re able to think on your

feet, and take into consideration that

even if you are different characters

everybody has a contribution to make.

And how you harness those strengths of the

people that you’re leading, to be able to align

them and get to deliver your objective, which is

aligned with the company objective, or whatever

it is, that you’re doing.

Self-awareness in leadership is very critical. Being

able to take criticism was also very, very important

journey.

From telling to now listening, there are certain key

skills that I have learned along the way, which I never

had.

73

BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR PURPOSE

Florence says once you’re clear about your purpose, about your mission, about what

you want, you pursue it. The process of pursuing it is not an easy one. Along the way,

you will knock your toes, you will find roadblocks.

“Once you have clarity about your purpose, then it becomes a lot easier for you to

trust the process that you’re going through in terms of investing through learning

through relationship, investing in the process of transitioning or achieving what you

wanted to what you want to be so along

“I encourage everybody to first of all, have clarity in terms of what your purpose is,

that is the first step, and it starts with you. Many of us have dreams. I encourage all

those who are going up the ladder to identify people they trust, so that they can

work with them. These may be a coach, or a friend, they may be somebody they

trust to work with them,” she says.

“So, the message to the young ladies out there is number one, what is your

purpose? What is your dream? At times you look for validation from friends,

surround yourself with people who you trust, who validate and encourage you,

and cheer you as you as you do whatever you’re doing.

WORK SMART

Many times we have this tendency of working so hard. And yet nobody

knows that you’re working, you’re in your corner, and you’re working very

hard. But your boss is not aware. Yet this is the person who will speak on

your behalf.

“When you walk through the hallway, do you just carry your laptop and

you walk through or you speak to the people along the way and say hello

to them and ask them questions? These could be the people who are

going to determine whether you are going to get the role or not.

So, I do call upon the young upcoming ladies to make sure that as they

come up, they hold another lady’s hand. You lose nothing by lighting

another candle, but you just get more light.

WHO IS FLORENCE OUTSIDE EXECUTIVE ROLE

Florence Nakimbugwe Nsubuga is a wife

and a mother of two; Sanyu and Suubi.

Apart from working as the Umeme Chief Operations Officer, she also sits on the Board

of Umeme and was recently appointed as a Non-Executive Director to the Jubilee Life

Insurance Board.

Florence is also involved in social work which she started way back about two decades

ago. “And this was because of my passion to support young girls and support women.

Initially, I started in my community at church, where I was supporting to counsel

young ladies who were going to get married, particularly in the space of financial

independence. I am very passionate about growing leaders, particularly women,” she

says.

Umeme


74

Florence Nsubuga, the Chief of

Operations at Umeme Limited

engages miller operators in

Kiwumu, Mukono.



75

Uganda’s energy sector

registered a huge leap

as partners unveiled the

inaugural integration of

off/on grid clean energy

source in little-known Kiwumu village,

Mukono where communities hitherto

had no access to the electricity grid.

The project dubbed Twaake or Utility

2.0. is a baby of collaborative efforts

by leading Uganda-based distributed

renewable energy companies (DREs)

to deliver affordable, reliable, and

clean power positioning as utilities of

the future.

Under this project, the partners

including Solar Mini Grid developers

and Appliance Financiers seek to

fast-track access to electricity by

communities that do not have this

critical resource in development.

The partners include Equatorial Power

which built a 40Kwh Solar Power Mini

Grid in Kiwumu Mukono.

Umeme Limited, Uganda’s electricity

distribution company accounting

for 97% distribution which built the

distribution infrastructure in the

community. Energro which is providing

electrical appliances for hire purchase

to communities. East African Power

providing containerized maize milling

units to support Agro-processing.

Power for all which has the license

and has coordinated the pilot and

Makerere University’s CEDAT as

Research partners for the project

which has been funded by Rockefeller

Foundation.

When successful, this project will be

rolled out to other areas to support the

efforts in providing access to energy.

These are models that investigate the

current challenges of the communities

and deliver tailormade solutions.

This is just one of the terrific

opportunities lined up for the

electricity industry and the energy

sector at large as we focus on the

energy boom.

Uganda’s current population is

estimated at 45 million people with

Umeme


76

only 25% of that accessing electricity

by the central grid while 26% utilize

solar energy. The desire is to connect

at least over 10.5 million households to

electricity by 2030. With the average

cost of grid extension connection at

$1,400, if grid extension is the sole

method of service provision, the

required investment would likely be in

the range of USD $7 billion at USD—

nearly a fifth of Uganda’s current

annual GDP estimated at $35 million.

The pilot is designed to at least halve

this cost by relying on integrated

energy. Integrated energy combines

centralized and decentralized

technology (including solar home

systems, mini-grids, grid, and smart

grid systems) into an intelligent and

interactive energy network that can

deliver clean energy solutions to end

energy poverty.

Through this integration, Uganda’s

energy customers will derive more

benefit for each kilowatt consumed,

creating more opportunities for

business, education, health, safety and

overall quality of life.

With Twaake, Uganda joins a growing

global network of integrated initiatives

to accelerate access, drive demand

and improve overall energy system

performance. In partnership with

Makerere University and several

Ugandan companies, Power for All

will evaluate the socio-economic

benefits of integrated energy and

the effectiveness of the business

models tests in pilot. Together,

the entire consortium will work

with the Government of Uganda to

achieve Uganda’s first successful

interconnected mini-grid access and

deepen the benefits to the people of

Uganda.

Twaake is coming in to bridge the

gap of delivering clean energy to the

households.

UTILIZE SOLAR

Twaake is coming in to bridge

the gap of delivering clean

energy to the households

Launching Twaake Solar

project in Kiwumu, Mukono.



77

PEOPLE

Natasha Asaba

PROJECTS ENGINEER

Capital & Contracts

Division (CCD)

The powerline serving the areas was

long, thus much of the power was

being lost in the form of heat.

“The solution was to construct the

Substation,” the mellow-voiced

Asaba says. “Now the customers

are served by a source nearby.”

Umeme


78

PHOTO [Portrait] Joseph Balikuddembe/ImagesOfUmeme


79

NATASHA ASABA IS SCALING

Put her among her professional

colleagues and she will leave many

in the dust. Though a spring chicken,

she has been in a headlining position

with four engineering projects under her belt.

And not just any project, we are talking projects

that run into billions of shillings. These include

the installation of the Kakiri Substation,

Lyantonde Switching Stations, Twaake

Project in Kiwumu Mukono and the Hoima-

Kinyara powerline.

4

MAJOR POWER

PROJECTS

under her belt

Natasha Asaba, a Projects Engineer in the

Capital & Contracts Division (CCD) since

2020, has her fingerprints on all the above

projects.

Before Kakiri Substation was built,

electricity users in Kakiri and Nansana

in Wakiso had unreliable power. The

powerline serving the areas was long, thus

much of the power was being lost in the

form of heat.

Kakiri Substation

Lyantonde Switching Station

Twaake Solar Project

Hoima-Kinyara Powerline

“The solution was to construct the

Substation,” the mellow-voiced Asaba

says. “Now the customers are served by a

source nearby.”

Consumers in Lyantonde District were facing

the same challenge as those in Kakiri.

So, Uganda’s leading power distributor Umeme, put up two

switching stations to mitigate impact of power being wheeled

over a long stretch.

In the case of the Hoima-Masindi line, which runs through swamps

in some sections, Asaba was in position to take critical decisions on

the replacement of the wooden poles with concrete ones.

Asaba joined Umeme from ATX Technology

Services – a firm providing infrastructure

installation, construction and maintenance

services for telecommunications, power and

water utilities – where she had worked 2016

through 2017. While at ATX, her brief involved

drawing work plans, budgets, coordinating

activities, organising site visits and project

documentation.

She says it is while she was there that she read

that the Electricity Regulatory Authority had

introduced a Graduate Trainee Programme to

develop talent for Uganda’s Electricity Supply

Industry (ESI).

Under the programme, ESI licensees would be expected

to recruit graduates from different disciplines, depending

on the licensees’ human resource needs, train and

employ them.

When Umeme advertised seeking Graduate Trainee

Engineers, Asaba applied and was taken on.

“I needed to grow, I need to keep learning. Umeme is an

established power utility. I needed to learn how it does things,”

she says to explain why she had to leave ATX.

Many years back, during her primary school days at Mount St.

Mary’s Primary School, Namagunga, when her views were not

crystallised, Asaba wanted to be a pilot.

Flying would be thrilling, she believed.

As she grew, as she attended lessons at King’s College, Budo, as she

readied to join university, instead of yearning for being airborne, she

scratched her head for answers to questions like, say, why do planes

move through the air effortlessly?

Besides Mathematics, she devoted more time to Physics. “Physics helps

you answer questions,” Asaba says.

When time to join Makerere University came, she enrolled to study Electrical

Engineering. She was one of the few ladies in the engineering class, which

instilled biases towards her even before she could open her mouth.

As a result, she had to ensure she does not fall short, if not of her own

expectations then of the young ladies who come after her.

Luckily, she had women like Dr. Maggie Kigozi to look up to.

“Dr. Kigozi is one of the persons who advocate for women’s emancipation,” says

Asaba. “She is a powerful yet humble lady. She is one of the most approachable

persons you will ever find, and she will greet you with a smile.”

Asaba is clearly going somewhere in her career.

Arnold Kalyegira, one of Umeme’s Projects Investment Managers, says in the comparatively short time Asaba has been at Umeme, she has

performed well, leading to her promotion.

“Natasha has proven herself to be hardworking, organised, self-motivated and eager to learn. She possesses excellent communication,

interpersonal and analytical skills,” Kalyegira says of Asaba.

81

SUBSTATION

CONTROL ROOM

STATION AT NAMANVE

Without investment, generation capacity would “quickly

be overtaken by rising demand” while aging infrastructure

would result in “increased losses and deterioration of the

reliability of supply.

Lyantonde Switchind Station



Umeme


82

LYANTONDE

SWITCHING STATION

Masaka Central 33kV from Masaka West

Substation is extremely longer than the

optimal length of 70km for 33kV networks.

The feeders have very long T-offs to

Rusherere (100km), to Ssembabule(136km),

and to Rakai (42km) ,which are also in turn

extremely branched.

All this affects the reliability of supply in that

region, however the high level of branching

offers the possibility of alternative supply

for these lines by putting switching stations.

This switching station has resulted in

improved reliability of supply in the area

and operation flexibility for Rusherere,

Sembabule and Rakai 33kv feeders.

BY THE NUMBERS

13,586

Population of Lyantonde

(UBOS, 2014)


and services in Gulu City

Has resulted in operation flexibility

for Rusherere, Sembabule & Rakai

Improved supply reliability

in Lyantonde Central, West

and the vicinity

LYANTONDE DISTRICT

CENTRAL UGANDA

83

REGULATOR SETS

NEW TARIFFS

FOR 2022

Electricity Regulatory Authority

New ERA House, Plot 5C-1 Third Street,

Lugogo Industrial Area

P.O.Box 10332, Kampala, Uganda

Telephone: +256 417 101800, +256 393-260166

Complaints Hotline: +256 200 506000

Email: info@era.go.ug

Umeme


84

ELECTRICITY BASE END-USER TARIFFS

UMEME LIMITED CUSTOMERS

CUSTOMER

CATEGORY

APPROVED

TARIFFS

DOMESTIC

(CODE 10.1)

LifeLine - First 15 Units 250.0

Between 16-80 Units 747.5

Between 81-150 Units

412.0

(Cooking Tariff)

Above 150 Units 747.5

AVERAGE PEAK

SHOULDER OFF-PEAK

COMMERCIAL

(CODE 10.2)

MEDIUM INDUSTRIAL

(CODE 20)

597.2 784.6 601.2 373.5

472.9 643.5 477.4 265.1

LARGE INDUSTRIAL

(CODE 30)

B1 355.0

B2 343.5

B1 472.5

B2 456.4

B1 355.6

B2 343.5

B1 231.1

B2 223.2

EXTRA LARGE

INDUSTRIAL

(CODE 40)

B1 300.0

B2 271.0

B1 395.7

B2 356.2

B1 301.1

B2 271.0

B1 214.7

B2 193.2

STREET LIGHTING

(CODE 50)

370.0

KEY

BI - Block 1: Energy Charge (Ush/kWh)

B2 - Block 2 (Declining Block*): Energy Charge (Ush/kWh)

*The Cooking Teriff is a newly introduced Tariff to

promote cooking with electricity by Domestic Consumers

The detailed Tariff Schedule is available at www.era.go.ug

85

1400

SMES ENGAGED

33 %

FEMALE

+

MALE

OF THE SMES ENGAGED

Following the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdowns

that ensued, there were consequences that

manifested including economic disruptions.

The Rockefeller Foundation in collaboration with

60-decibels, a research firm, approached Umeme to

lead a research on the impact of the pandemic on our

small and medium sized consumers. Umeme’s role in

this research was to support through the provision of

non-biased samples of our domestic and commercial

covid-19 impact on Umeme’s

SME

CUSTOMERS

customers

for each

month of

the research

and to make

relevant

comments

on the

monthly findings of the research. The target

population for the survey was all Umeme domestic

and commercial customers up to SME level, the

sample from this population was chosen in two steps,

the first step determined how many customers would

be picked from each Umeme region (operational area)

and this was achieved using a probability proportional

to size sampling where a larger sample was picked

from a larger Umeme customer region and vice versa.

These Statistics were compiled by James Phillip Sembeguya

following a research conducted by The Rockefeller Foundation

in collaboration with 60-decibels and Umeme Limited.

67 % LIVED IN CITIES

70 %

82 % 18%

This is consistent with the socio-economic

characteristics of the areas covered by the

Umeme service territory which is majorly

in the urban areas of Uganda

MORE THAN

REPORTED

SATISFACTION

WITH UMEME’S

COMMUNICATION

DURING THE

PANDEMIC

MAINTAINED

ELECTRICITY

USAGE AS

BEFORE

30 %50%

DURING THE PANDEMIC

USED THEIR

ELECTRICITY

FOR INCOME

GENERATING

ACTIVITIES

LIVED IN

VILLAGE

AREAS

Umeme


86

The second step used simple random sampling within the

stratified Umeme regions to pick the final customer sample

accordingly. The survey tool for data collection was a

telephone based interviewer administered questionnaire. The

survey was carried out monthly over a five month period from July

to November 2020.

The only challenge faced with this survey method was nonresponse

from the interviewees but it was addressed by selecting

replacement customers into the sample whenever it arose. Despite

the findings mentioned, 71% of the customers continued to pay

for Umeme electricity compared to 29% who stopped during the

period, the rather high continuity was because of the prepaid nature

of consumption and the availability of and ease of access to Umeme

digital payment channels, a commendable and timely innovation.

The first wave of the pandemic affected Umeme customers with

varying severity according to the interview areas presented in this

article. Further research for a longer period than the months of July

to November 2020 would likely refine the findings of this survey

and could reveal a more accurate impact of this pandemic on our

customers now that a second wave is being experienced.

The industrial category

is growing at 11%,

commercial SMEs at 12%

and domestic at 6.3%.

In 2021, we continued to register a 10%

growth in electricity demand compared to

the 0.6% of 2020.

These Statistics were compiled by James Phillip Sembeguya

following a research conducted by The Rockefeller Foundation

in collaboration with 60-decibels and Umeme Limited.

87

1400

SMES ENGAGED

33 %

FEMALE

+

MALE

OF THE SMES ENGAGED

67 % 70 %

LIVED IN CITIES

82 % 18%

This is consistent with the socio-economic

characteristics of the areas covered by the

Umeme service territory which is majorly

in the urban areas of Uganda

USED THEIR

ELECTRICITY

FOR INCOME

GENERATING

ACTIVITIES

MORE THAN

LIVED IN

VILLAGE

AREAS

REPORTED

SATISFACTION

WITH UMEME’S

COMMUNICATION

DURING THE

PANDEMIC

MAINTAINED

empow

ELECTRICITY

USAGE AS

BEFORE

DURING THE PANDEMIC

Umeme


88

erment

Sulaiman*, a welder cuts metal at a steel

manufucting factory in Njeru, Mukono



89

PEOPLE

LAKE

Response &

responsibility

Umeme Techs Alex Banadda and Brian

Okello wade out to dock a canoe ahead

of a 2km sail over Lake Kwania.



Umeme


90

Behind the shadows of the light, are unsung

men treading risk-prone belts of Lake Kwania

to keep electricity service sustained. These

are the “heroes of the grid”

Writes Documentary Photographer

Micheal J W

Not too long ago, Lira earned

City status. Despite its

unstable history on the

back of a chronic war—it

has been on a relatively steady

trajectory of development albeit

with some challenges like any other

place recovering from the ravages of

insurgency.

However, its accelerated fiscal

progress and budding socio-economic

life is anchored by a fairly stable power

supply premised on new investments

and refurbishment of the electricity

infrastructure within the region.

These investments are partly

responsible for the City’s renewed

economic vitality.

It’s not uncommon not to think

about it when sipping on a cold drink

while enjoying your favorite football

club until power suddenly cuts the

excitment at the very moment when

your club is almost scoring the

equalising goal—but at the bedrock

of this service are ‘silent’ men who

are treading risk-prone belts of Lake

Kwania to keep electricity supply

running. These are the “heroes of the

grid”.

Spanning the Lango-subregion across

9 Districts in Northern Uganda runs

Umeme’s 33Kv line over Lake Kwania

where its network Engineers are

pushing beyond boundaries against all

odds to extend electricity supply as far

as the risk-prone belts of little-known

village—now—Island of Kachung.

91

2km sail over lake Kwania



Deviating off as a tributary of Lake

Kyoga, Lake Kwania burst its banks

tearing apart the fabric of Kachung

village only to ravage structures,

supress communities and leaving

service disruption in its wake.

Whether it’s nature responding to

indiscriminate human activity or

simply nature finding its course, its

wrath is evident in this village and the

sight is unpleasant to say the least.

Life here has been shuttered beyond

settlement and what remains is only

but shells of what over 25,000 people

once called home.

Rapidly rising water levels left

no single trace of a once dry

2.5km stretch of road—hampering

accessibility to the only electricity

feeder in the area.

“Accessing the feeder to restore

power has not been easy” Fred

Seruwagi, a Network Engineer at

Umeme in Lira narrates during our

sail. “There are alot of risks” he

continues.

This dilemma is almost expected

on a recurring patern for the next

five years, experts told us—calling

for more daring ways of monitoring

the Kwania feeder to ensure

uninterrupted electricity service

provision in the Lango-subregion.

That’s where the canoe comes in,

handy—atleast for now.

As of July 2018, the population of

Lango sub-region was estimated

at 2.3 million people according to

data from the Uganda Bureau of

Statistics which is approximately

5.75% of the estimated 40 million

Ugandans expecting electricity under

Government’s access agenda.

The importance of the Kwania feeder

can not be over emphasized for one

major reason; two of the Country’s

critical Utilities have their services

anchored by power supplied through

it.

*Umeme’s documentary photographers trailed the 2.5km canoe-aided sail into the deepest zones

of lake Kwania and now tell the story—through immersive imagery—of the Utility’s efforts to keep

Communities powered amid rising water levels which are hampering accessbility.

Umeme


92

“Two of the Country’s critical

Utilities have their services

anchored by power supplied

through the Kwania feeder”

Umeme Techs Alex Banadda and Brian Okello

wade out the shallow waters of Lake Kwania.

In the background is the Kwania feeder.

“When you cut off this line, then Lira

is in problems” Glazio Tukaherwa, a

Manager at National Water & sewerage

Corporation in Lira told us.

Pumps at the Kachung water plant

which serves about 170,000 consumers

in Dokolo and Lira City heavily rely on

the power supplied by the feeder—

yet this is Lira City’s only source of

safe water according to Eng. Sentaba

Herbert, the service Engineer at National

Water and Sewerage Corporation in Lira.

“We appreciate the supportive spirit that

Umeme shows whenever we call upon

them to restore power so that we can

ensure that these communities access

safe water.”

It’s this collaborative effort and spirit of

service that pushes these two Utilities.

“Without Umeme, we can not supply our

customers” Eng. Sentaba says.

Alex Banadda and Brian Okello are

Umeme Technicians that frequent

the Kwania waters on their routine

maintenance postings covering a total

distance of 16km for 4 return sails on a

normal day.

Despite the lake hinting its dark side

through tides, drifts, weeds and

potential water predators, Alex and

Brian have been committed to this

routine for the past three years under

the challenging environment.

The urgency to adopt a more sustainble

plan for the estimated 2.3 million people

in Lango-subregion on the very edge

of chronic blackouts with the slightest

shock likely to plunge them closer to the

brink is high.

Umeme is aiming to salvage network

investments in 2022 with Lira pertaking

of the power distributor’s share of

investment.

The situation on Lake Kwania mirrors

the general context and provides a

snapshot of Umeme’s critical work

across several other towns and villages

within its footprint.

If Alex and Brian’s level of sacrifice,

commitment and bravery doesn’t earn

them—at the very least—a salut, I don’t

know what will!

93

CONNECT WITH US wherever you are

FOLLOW US

@UmemeLtd

@MDofUmeme | @UmemeAtService | @SpoxOfUmeme

Umeme


94

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the UmemeApp

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Umeme Limited is regulated by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA)

Prepaid Ele ctricity

1

2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

0 #

kWh

THE

DARK

DAYS

OUR

IMPACT

1998

Owen Falls Dam with

only 180MW capacity,

was dilapidated, putting

the sector in dire need

of investments in

generation, transmission

& distribution.

A World Bank study

in 1998 had concluded

that Uganda’s electricity

system was financially

not viable due to

distribution inefficiency,

characterised by high

energy losses (40%)

and uncollected bills.

The sector was heavily

reliant on Government

subsidies.

The Country was

cash-tight, leading to

the implementation

of the Structural

Adjustments

Programme,

Liberalization and

Privatization.

1999

ENERGY

SECTOR

REFORMS

THE BIRTH

OF UMEME

LTD

70

SubstationS

2005 2021

Rehabilitated & constructed new Substations

across our footprint to improve supply

reliability. They now total 69. We distribute

97% of grid power.

More than doubled network size to

44,000km, from 16,000km in 2005

and increased transformer zones

from 6,000 in 2005 to 14,000.

44,000

KM NETWORK

MILESTONES

1.6MILLION

CUSTOMERS

SUPPORTING

BUBU

Increased the

customer base sixfold

from 250,000 in

2005 to 1.6 million.

We source

materials

and services

locally.

We employ

2,500

permanent

and contract

staff – 100%

Ugandans.

THE DARK DAYS

16 years ago, access

to electricity was the

preserve of selected

areas, especially the

urban precincts.

The service, then

offered by Uganda

Electricity Board (UEB),

was characterized by

power outages while

the Company was losing

4kWh in every 10kWh

of power it produced

due to delapidated

network

Installed

generation

capacity has

increased

from 180MW

to 1269MW.

Umeme

facilitates

upstream

investments in

generation as

an effiecient

distrbutor.

INSTALLED

GENERATION

CAPACITY

243.89

24HR

CUSTOMER

SERVICE

We have 1.6 million

customers on Yaka.

48 Service Centres open to

customers throughout our

footprint.

SHARED

VALUE

17.5

FROM

%

38

Promoting Capital

Markets through listing

on the Uganda Securities

Exchange. We are publically

owned with over 6000

shareholders. NSSF is

majority owner at 23.2%.

%

Improved the

electricity

distribution

efficiency from 50%

to 85% as of 2020,

through reduction

of energy losses to

17.5% from 38% in

2005.

Published by Umeme Limited


and Marketing

Rwenzori House

P.O.Box 23841

Lumumba Avenue

Kampala, UGANDA

E callcentre@umeme.co.ug

T 0312-360-600

www.umeme.co.ug

Scan to for the

free e-Copy

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96

Umeme Pulse Magazine Issue 2

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