AfrOil: Museveni defends Uganda’s oil development plans

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said that his government is committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 but does not expect fossil fuel consumption to be eliminated completely within the next few decades.

In a speech at a climate summit in Johannesburg, Museveni declared that his country was on track to bring net carbon dioxide emissions down to zero by the middle of the century. “Uganda remains committed to achieving the goal of carbon neutrality,” he said.

He also stated that Kampala intended to use the proceeds of a $10bn campaign to develop oilfields on the shores of Lake Albert to cover the costs of making the transition to a lower-carbon economy. Petrodollars will help fund the switch, which will include the development of an electric vehicle (EV) industry in Uganda, he said.

France’s TotalEnergies and its partner China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) are still slated to begin production at the Tilenga and Kingfisher oilfields in 2025 as scheduled, he added.