The ongoing exploitation and development of Uganda’s oil resources has the potential to reshaping the ecological, socio-economic, and political geography of Uganda and the Great Lakes sub-region in a manner previously unimagined. The scale of the investments, the range and diversity of actors and the current structure of power relations makes the oil sub-sector the single most important game changer in the pursuit of societal transformation in Uganda and the sub-region.
Since the discovery of commercially viable quantities of oil, the Government of Uganda has made progress in putting in place the governance infrastructure, especially in the form of institutions and laws to foster the development of oil resources. The government envisages the flow of oil revenues to buttress its efforts towards the consolidation of public finance and debt repayment. Government has also raised the hopes of Ugandans by promising to invest in expanding the delivery of health services, access to quality education, etc. Substantial oil revenue could also fuel the much-needed investment in expanding economic opportunities for a burgeoning youth population that can be potentially destabilising in distressing economic conditions.
The conference will address the following challenges and questions, among others:
- Building an oil economy that works for citizens – How operational is this revenue governance structure? Are there adequate and functional transparency mechanisms and accountability safeguards? Can the legislated oil governance regime be effective in the light of the rate of corruption in the country? How should the Ugandan economy be positioned in the oil value chain?
- Uganda’s geopolitical position – How will oil resources reshape Ugandans regional and global geopolitical posture?
- Harnessing the youth demographic –To what extent is Uganda’s population, especially young people engaged in the discourse on the governance of oil resources? Will the flow of oil revenues help expand or shrink the democratic space?
