By Sadique Bamwita
ENTEBBE
The Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Hon. Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa Sentamu has revealed that Uganda will receive its first oils in June next year.
Nankabirwa made the revelation on November 19, 2025, while opening the 17th Organization of African Geological Surveys Elective General Assembly being held in Entebbe.
She also called on government to expeditiously complete the installation of Oil Labs which are certified to a global standard ahead of Oil exploration in the Albertine region.
Minister Nankabirwa is confident that having a certified Lab for geologists will reduce the cost of exporting mineral samples for testing and consequently this will attract more investors to invest in Uganda’s mineral resources.
While addressing assembled reporters in Entebbe, Hon. Nankabirwa admitted that though Uganda discovered oil in the Albertine region, the oil Labs are not fully certified to the international standard. She however, revealed that her Ministry is working hard to resolve this issue and that currently Uganda’s oil Labs are at 93.1 level.
“The critical infrastructure for the mineral subsector is to have an internationally certified Lab so that investors don’t spend a lot of money to export samples for testing. We want to do value addition from here and this would enable us to determine the quality of mineral resources,” Minister Nankabirwa stated.
Minister Nankabirwa also called for expeditious implementation of the law which bans exportation of unprocessed minerals. On this note, she announced that Uganda will receive its first oils in June next year.
The president of the Organization of African Geological Surveys, Dr. Diene Rokhaya Samba, urged African countries including Uganda to add value in their mineral resources to avoid exporting substandard mineral resources.
The Commissioner for mines at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Ms. Agnes Alaba said her Ministry continues to undertake resource certification.
