AfrElec: Uganda to take over electricity distribution from private operator Umeme

Uganda has rolled out the process of taking over electricity distribution operations from private operator Umeme, with the government requiring $158mn to invest in the distribution system over the next three years. The East African nation has announced it will not renew Umeme’s concession to manage power distribution in the country when it ends in March 2025.

Umeme, whose shares are traded on both the Ugandan and Kenyan stock exchanges, secured a 20-year concession to manage the power distribution business in Uganda as a monopoly in 2005.The agreement was expected to bring in vast private sector capital investment that would finance the upgrading and expansion of the country's creaky electricity grid.

President Yoweri Museveni and other officials have, however, complained the firm had failed to rapidly expand the country's power grid or make electricity affordable to consumers, leading to the decision not to renew the concession when it expires.

If you would like to read more about the key events shaping the African energy sector, then please click here for NewsBase's AfrElec Monitor.