President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni yesterday (18th July 2024) launched Lake Victoria Logistics, a company aiming at reducing the cost of transporting fuel in Uganda.
Lake Victoria Logistics was founded in May 2015 as Mahathi Infra Uganda with a vision to change the petroleum logistics for Uganda and other landlocked countries like Rwanda, Burundi and DRC that get their oil through Uganda. In 2018, President Museveni laid a foundation stone and today he officially launched the facility.
During the launch at Bugiri-Bukasa, Kawuku-Entebbe Road, President Museveni expressed gratitude to Lake Victoria Logistics/Mahathi Infra Uganda for investing in Uganda.
“I’m very happy about this move. Mahathi you have helped us. I don’t know how much cheaper it is because you didn’t give us the figures, but I imagine that it is much cheaper than it was. The most important thing is for you to come to the market of Uganda and once you enter our market, you are talking about the market of DR Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and so on. So, this is really a goldmine for investors,” he said.
President Museveni also revealed that the economy of Uganda has been able to grow progressively due to the right strategy of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government.
“People who don’t understand the NRM strategy always miss the point. By 1986, the money economy of Uganda had collapsed, therefore that time, the task was to revive the economy which had collapsed so when you hear people talking of traffic jam and so on, that means the economy has been revived; you cannot have the traffic jam if you people don’t have money to buy cars and fuel,” he said.
The President further explained that since the economy of the country has been revived under the NRM government, it was high time, they rationalised it.
“During that phase, we could not handle the other elements of rationalisation, therefore our transport system at the moment is irrational, why? We have got so much traffic on the roads which is not economic but that’s not accidental, it is part of the strategy we adopted. The economy is now bigger but with those irrationalities,” he expounded.
“This is the time now to go into rationalisation and this project is part of it. By having fuel getting off the roads, you are targeting that rationalisation of the economy. I’m glad the proprietors and also the Ministers have assured the country about the zero chance of pollution of petroleum in the freshwater lake, it’s good that it has been ruled out completely.”
President Museveni also encouraged the investors to develop capacity for other forms of cargo other than fuel.
“I advise you to look for durable areas of investment because right now the recovery phase of Uganda’s economy is finished, everything is there, it is now the rationalisation. You should also bring us other investors who can invest in other sectors,” he said.
The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Katumba Wamala said the project will be very vital in reducing the cost of transportation of fuel as well as the cost of fuel in Uganda and the region.
“Your Excellency, my Ministry is responsible for regulating transport of all forms; on road, air and also on water. We have been involved in this project. Our country being land-linked, we have been relying on and continue to rely heavily on road transport for the transportation of our cargo including fuel and petroleum products. This road transport comes along with a number of costs such as high road maintenance costs, fuel adulteration, road accidents, among others,” the Minister said.
“This effort will greatly reduce the high maintenance costs, traffic congestion on our roads and the frequent associated road accidents. I just want to reassure you that these vessels are very safe,” he added.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa thanked Mahathi Infra for training and offering technical skills to Ugandans working under the project.
She said this project is a significant milestone in Uganda’s energy sector and it’s a testament to the country’s commitment to diversity fuel import routes and promoting economic growth.
The board Chairman of Mahathi Infra Uganda, Dr. Steve Mainda said the transportation of fuel in Uganda has been limited to road transport which has worked for many years but with challenges and inefficiencies.
He however noted that with the coming of Lake Victoria Logistics company, such inefficiencies will be no more.
“The vision of this project is to establish a more efficient and sustainable solution to decongest the roads, ease border post traffic and reduce turn-round time and cost of moving fuel from Mombasa to this place. We have invested USD100 million in this project,” he said.
Dr. Mainda further noted that the company already has two state of the art tank ships, made in Uganda, each with a capacity of 4.5 million litres.
“They are operational, and each ship can make 10 trips a month. We now have a capacity to transport 90 million litres every month. We plan to construct two more ships to bring the monthly capacity to 180 million litres,” he said.
The facility also has an entirely new logistics ecosystem for the region’s fuel by setting up 14 storage tanks with collective storage capacity of 70,000,000 litres. This is the largest fuel storage capacity in Uganda and in East Africa.”
Dr. Mainda also informed the President that they have set up a 256 metre-long jetty in Bugiri-Bukasa, thus facilitating the berthing of vessels and enabling efficient cargo handling.
The company’s former board Chairman, Capt. Mike Mukula thanked President Museveni for the support he has rendered towards the firm.
“I want to personally thank you sir when you received us in 2017 in Nakasero, this was the beginning of the journey,” he said.
“This investment will be a major catalyst in reducing the cost of doing business in the country because transport is one of the major cost pushers but Lake Victoria Logistics will tremendously reduce the cost of transport between Kisumu and Uganda and we would like to thank you for your initiative and foresight in enabling UNOC to be the key partner in delivering fuel to the country.”
