By Samuel Ouma
Uganda’s long-awaited oil and gas era is now unfolding under the leadership of Proscovia Nabbanja, the CEO of the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC). A geologist by training and a 23-year veteran of Uganda’s petroleum sector, Nabbanja has guided UNOC through pivotal milestones from negotiating the $15 billion Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) on Uganda’s oilfields to signing key pipeline and refinery agreements. Under her tenure, UNOC has become the government’s commercial arm in oil and gas, holding 15% stakes in each Lake Albert oil project and in the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). Alongside upstream developments, Nabbanja is spearheading downstream ventures, including a 60,000 bbl/d refinery at Kabaale, oil product terminals, and the national fuel import mandate. These projects collectively worth tens of billions of dollars are designed to “create a comprehensive oil and gas ecosystem that stimulates economic growth and job creation”.
Nabbanja’s leadership is about more than hardware: she emphasises local benefit, transparency and sustainability. “Oil is a finite resource… [UNOC’s] role is to ensure it benefits all Ugandans, not just today’s generation,” she has often stated. In her view, Uganda’s oil wealth must fuel national transformation powering industries, education and infrastructure rather than profiteering. Uganda is a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and Nabbanja underscores governance: UNOC’s operations are governed by a strict Board and corporate strategy, and the company recently won a balanced scorecard award for strategic performance. In practice, Nabbanja has championed stringent local-content rules and capacity-building: UNOC’s National Supplier Database now lists around 3,000 Ugandan companies in the oil sector, and thousands of Ugandans have been trained and certified in oilfield trades. She told Daily Monitor that UNOC’s upstream joint ventures alone employ over 5,000 Ugandans, and in 2021 some 460 local companies won contracts worth over $600 million.
Nabbanja’s hands-on approach shows in UNOC’s expanding portfolio. Under her guidance, UNOC acquired the Kasuruban exploration license in 2023, the largest in Uganda’s second licensing round and is conducting seismic and drilling to boost reserves. She reports that UNOC “currently oversees nine production licenses encompassing 13 oil and gas fields” in the Albertine basin, all slated for development under the Lake Albert Development (Tilenga and Kingfisher) program. Tilenga, led by TotalEnergies, and Kingfisher, by CNOOC, together hold around 1.4–1.7 billion recoverable barrels. Both projects reached Final Investment Decision in 2022, and drilling of producer and injector wells is now underway. UNOC has 15% equity in each, reflecting its role as Uganda’s state investor. Once online (targeted around late 2025), the Lake Albert development is expected to “transform Uganda into a net oil producer”, pushing output toward the joint 230,000 barrels-per-day capacity of Tilenga and Kingfisher.
At the same time, Nabbanja is shepherding the $3.5 billion EACOP pipeline that will export Uganda’s oil. This 1,443 km heated crude line to Tanzania’s Tanga port is now over 50% complete. UNOC via its pipeline subsidiary holds 15% of EACOP. In March 2025 the EACOP company closed its first tranche of external financing led by Afreximbank, Stanbic, KCB and others to cover some $2.4 billion of the pipeline cost. Crucial commercial agreements including the Host Government, Shareholders and Tariff & Transportation agreements were all signed with Nabbanja personally signing the EACOP shareholders pact for Uganda in 2021. Nabbanja describes EACOP as a regional partnership: it “will create employment, contracts for goods and services and generate tax for both governments,” even as she notes its revenues (Uganda’s 15% share) depend on oil production levels.
In the downstream sector, UNOC under Nabbanja is moving swiftly. In March 2025 Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and UNOC signed a project implementation agreement with UAE’s Alpha MBM Investments to advance the $3+ billion Kabaale refinery. This 60,000 bbl/d plant at Hoima will process Lake Albert crude into fuels and petrochemicals. It will include a new 211 km multi-product pipeline and water infrastructure, and is linked to a planned Kabalega Industrial Park for fertilizer, petrochemical and manufacturing projects. “The development of the refinery is a key strategic project,” UNOC notes, crucial for import substitution, trade balance and jobs. Nabbanja’s team also negotiated the refinery shareholders’ agreement, won government allocation of a 40% offtake, and secured ongoing talks with multilateral financiers to close funding.
On the logistics side, Nabbanja implemented a major reform in 2024: UNOC became sole importer of all petroleum products into Uganda. As CEO, she oversaw UNOC’s procurement of over 2 billion liters of diesel, petrol and jet fuel for Ugandan marketers in 2024-25. This move has slashed supply disruptions and stabilized pump prices, the Monitor reports retail fuel prices fell by roughly Sh1,000 per liter after UNOC took over imports. UNOC now operates Uganda’s main storage terminals in Jinja and is fast-tracking a second Kampala terminal and an intergovernmental corridor via Kenya/Tanzania.
Nabbanja also highlights gas monetization as part of Uganda’s plan. While Lake Albert’s oilfields hold some associated gas (estimated at around 2 trillion cubic feet), the Tilenga and Kingfisher developments call for reinjection of most gas to maintain pressure. Whatever gas remains is earmarked for domestic use: the refinery will produce liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a clean fuel, and plans exist to supply gas to power plants and industries. In UNOC’s words, these projects aim “to develop resources… while monetizing and developing our downstream sector”. Indeed, UNOC’s export-oriented infrastructure namely pipeline and refinery is explicitly part of “Uganda’s strategy to commercialize its oil and gas resources”.
These initiatives have national economic stakes. UNOC projects Uganda will earn up to $2 billion per year at peak oil output. Using current oil price assumptions, analysts estimate the combined Lake Albert projects could generate roughly $70 billion in government revenues over their lifetime. The downstream refinery should save around $2 billion annually in fuel imports. This influx roughly half of Uganda’s 2021 GDP is expected to ripple through the economy. According to UNOC and government projections, Uganda’s oil boom could create 160,000 new jobs (14,000 direct, 46,700 indirect) and boost GDP by about $8.6 billion over a few years. In rural Hoima, for example, local entrepreneurs report switching from subsistence farming to oilfield supply businesses.
Nabbanja’s agenda is to translate these projects into real development. She and UNOC invest heavily in education and community programs: scholarships, vocational training over 14,000 Ugandans trained in oil/gas skills, and community infrastructure (schools, clinics, roads). She has also pushed reforms for transparency and oversight. In 2023 UNOC launched the Alliance for Climate Resilience, planting tens of thousands of trees around project sites. The company publishes annual “Environmental & Social Safeguards” reports and has established channels for stakeholder engagement. Nabbanja has worked with Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Parliament to strengthen regulatory bodies like the Petroleum Authority, and UNOC supports local audit and anti-corruption initiatives. In her words, industry leaders have “a mission to eradicate energy poverty… and transform our economies using our oil and gas resources”.
Investing in Uganda at African Energy Week
This national vision is now being showcased globally. Nabbanja has represented Uganda at major energy forums, and next will speak at African Energy Week (AEW) 2025 in Cape Town. AEW is the Africa’s premiere annual investment summit where governments pitch projects to financiers. In AEW 2023 Nabbanja led the “Invest in Uganda Energies” country forum, where she detailed the $10+ billion portfolio of Ugandan projects. She told attendees that UNOC is “building an investment portfolio of over $10 billion… to develop an estimated 1.4–1.7 billion barrels of oil while monetizing and developing our downstream sector”. Her message echoed by Uganda’s Energy Ministry in subsequent briefings is clear: Uganda is open for business.
The African Energy Chamber has lauded Uganda’s outreach. Program director Oré Onagbesan praised Uganda’s “bold moves to monetize its resources” and declared Uganda is “open for business and ready to partner with global investors”. He specifically spotlighted Nabbanja’s participation: “We are proud to welcome Proscovia Nabbanja to AEW 2025, where she will showcase how Uganda is open for business…”. Similarly, AEC chairman NJ Ayuk personally endorsed her expertise. At AEW 2023 Ayuk said Nabbanja “has a strong technical background and unique expertise in identifying commercially viable investments across the petroleum value chain,” and predicted that with her involvement Ugandan and regional projects “will gain momentum and attract the necessary investments to maximize their potential”. In other words, Africa’s energy elite view Nabbanja as a credible dealmaker who will “amplify” Uganda’s profile.
At AEW 2025 and related events, Nabbanja is expected to pitch Uganda’s entire oil-and-gas agenda from exploration and pipeline development to refinery and industrialization. SoftPower News reports she “will use her platform at AEW 2025 to engage international investors and highlight opportunities across Uganda’s entire oil and gas value chain,” including upstream fields, midstream infrastructure, refining and storage projects, and local capacity-building initiatives. This fits with UNOC’s “end-to-end” strategy under her, covering every segment from technical exploration to fuel retail. As the Oil & Gas Journal notes, Uganda’s government has drawn up a timeline (1st oil by 2025) and is fast-tracking deals to hit these targets. Nabbanja’s role is to lock in investors and partners for that agenda.
- Key Projects and Initiatives: Under Nabbanja’s tenure, UNOC has driven Uganda’s oil-and-gas development at all levels:
- Lake Albert Upstream (Tilenga & Kingfisher): UNOC holds 15% stakes in each, supporting TotalEnergies’ 190,000 bpd Tilenga project and CNOOC’s 40,000 bpd Kingfisher project. Both projects FID’d in 2022; production drilling is underway.
- EACOP Pipeline: The 1,443 km Uganda–Tanzania pipeline is now >50% built. UNOC (via its pipeline subsidiary) owns 15% of EACOP. In March 2025 the project closed an initial financing tranche for ~$2.4 billion.
- Kabaale Refinery & Industrial Park: UNOC negotiated a deal with Alpha MBM for a 60,000-bpd greenfield refinery, plus a multi-product pipeline and processing park. The refinery (60k bpd) is poised to reduce Uganda’s fuel imports and produce LPG; it will anchor a $4–5 billion petrochemicals complex in Hoima.
- Fuel Import Reform: Since July 2024 UNOC became Uganda’s sole fuel importer. In 2024 alone it delivered over 2 billion liters of diesel, petrol and jet fuel to local marketers, cutting out intermediaries and stabilizing pump prices. The Monitor reports UNOC’s policy has already shaved about Sh1,000 off retail prices.
- Local Content & Governance: Nabbanja has pushed strict local-participation rules. UNOC’s National Supplier Database lists ~3,000 Ugandan firms able to supply the oil sector. Thousands of Ugandans have been trained (over 14,000 certified in oil/gas disciplines), and contracts awarded to local companies jumped from $10.7 million in 2020 to ~$600 million around 2022. These efforts are backed by UNOC’s own governance: the company embeds Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) safeguards in all projects and maintains transparent frameworks in line with EITI standards.
Throughout, Nabbanja has stressed inclusion and sustainability. In 2023 she told an African Energy roundtable that global energy “pathways” must fit each country’s needs: whatever solution is chosen “better meet full criteria: is it affordable, is it accessible, and is it sustainable?”. This reflects her view that Uganda’s energy strategy must balance industrial growth with social equity. Indeed, UNOC’s mandate under her has been explicitly to maximize “value for the benefit of all Ugandans”. As Uganda approaches first oil, Nabbanja’s task is to translate billions of dollars of projects into real prosperity: jobs, schools, roads and cleaner energy for Ugandans.
Nabbanja’s leadership has won international recognition. In 2022 she was shortlisted as African “CEO of the Year” at the African Energy Awards. Locally, she has been lauded by the President and Cabinet for her stewardship of Uganda’s oil assets. In interviews she often emphasizes unity and long-term vision: “As industry leaders we have a mission to eradicate energy poverty in Africa, propel industrialisation and transform our economies”, she told the Africa Energy Chamber. Her colleagues credit her technical expertise and collaborative style: NJ Ayuk’s praise underscores that she is seen as a credible partner to investors and multinationals alike.
As 2025 unfolds, Nabbanja’s role will only grow more prominent. With first oil slated by end-2025 and hundreds of miles of pipeline and refinery construction ahead, the stakes are high. At African Energy Week, she will be Uganda’s chief pitchwoman. A press release notes she will “spotlight Uganda’s strategic oil and gas projects, including the Lake Albert Development Project and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)”. In short, Proscovia Nabbanja embodies Uganda’s oil ambitions: she leads its national oil company into uncharted territory, seeking investment and partnerships while vowing that the proceeds will “benefit all Ugandans”. With such emphasis on transparency, local empowerment and sound economics, her tenure will help determine whether Uganda’s oil becomes a catalyst for development or a missed promise.
*Culled from Africa Energy Week at 5 Special Edition of PAV Magazine
