UGANDA:
SOCIO-ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
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INDUSTRY IN UGANDA

1. Uganda's industries are still greatly underdeveloped. Without natural reserves of coal industry relies entirely on hydroelectric power. Most of the hydroelectric power is generated at the Nalubale and Kiira power stations located near the source of the Nile. As the country's economy is largely agro-based, the main industries are involved in the processing of agricultural produce. There are a number of edible-oil mills using oil seeds as their raw material. They use groundnuts, cottonseed, sunflower seed, oil palm, simsim and soya. Today only a few cotton ginneries are in operation but there are many coffee and tea processing plants.

Uganda has few mineral resources and the only ones that are exploited to any great extent are phosphates, limestone and construction materials such as clay, sand gravel and aggregates. There are two large cement factories, one in the east near Tororo and another at Hima in the west.

2. Oil And Gas Industry

Uganda has no oil and gas industry although the government, through its Petroleum Exploration and Production Department, is promoting exploration in the Lake Albert area. No wells have been drilled as yet because no commercially viable discoveries have been made and there is consequently no production or field development.

Uganda imports all its petroleum products, mostly through the coastal port of Mombasa in Kenya. Some imports also come in through the Tanzanian port of Dar-es-Slaam. Oil and gas products are transported by road, rail or by water on Lake Victoria. This means therefore, that the stability of the economy greatly depends on the prevailing oil prices on the world market. When the world oil prices go up, commodity prices go up too.

3. Major industries:

· Steel rolling.
· Brewing.
· Grain milling
· Cement manufacturing
· Textiles
· Food processing, especially coffee, tea, fish soft drinks
· Cigarette manufacturing
· Plywood manufacturing

4. Limitations of industrial development:

· Shortage of raw materials, particularly mineral resources
· Lack of investment
· An underdeveloped transport network
· Small local market
· Un-skilled labour force.
· Limited energy resources.

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Last update: June, 2004