People living in districts through which the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will be constructed have been advised to prepare themselves to tap opportunities that will accrue to them due to the oil deposits in the country.
In an exclusive interview with this website on Thursday, the Economic and Finance Analysis manager at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU),Tom Ayebare Rukundo advised people to use the already available capital than waiting for financial boosts from banking institutions.
He advised them to engage in agriculture using the best practices that meet international standards as Uganda transitions to oil production stage.
“People should not wait for banks to boost them financially, but rather start using the God-given capital to start their businesses to benefit from oil. Land is all they need to begin with in order to feed the oil and gas industry,” he said.
However, Rukundo said improving safety and quality products at international level is a key factor for one to benefit from businesses that oil will come up with.
Meanwhile, during an engagement at Mika Eco Resort Hotel in Hoima Town, the National Content manager at PAU, Betty Namubiru also advised people to concentrate on agriculture.
She said agriculture was a major sector to engage in for improvement of household income during the oil production stage.
The manager continued that the development will bring forth a variety of opportunities up for grab to feed the influx of the workforce in the oil and gas industry that will especially flock Hoima.
“People should not run out from agriculture, but should support it because the demand for food will increase during the construction of the pipeline and oil production process,” she advised.
Namubiru told the participants that as Uganda transitions to the oil production stage, the country will see an augmented number of employees in the industry whose demand for various products and services to meet their daily needs will call for a constant flow of market supply.
The manager cited farm products like beef, milk and foods, handicrafts and others as targets that should be set for sale during the oil production stage.
However, she also advised intending service providers to produce output that meets both national and international standards and register their companies with various government agencies like the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) and the National Supplier Database (NSD) among others.
Suppliers will also pay all required taxes to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to reap from the resource that was discovered in the Albertine Belt.
The engagement drew participants from all walks of life including civil servants, farmers, religious leaders and service providers among others from Hoima, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kyankwanzi and Mubende districts where the pipeline will be constructed.
Once oil is extracted, part of it will be refined at Kabaale in Hoima, Uganda to meet the local market while the rest will be exported to Chongoleani in Tanga, Tanzania to the international market through the EACOP.
If completed, the 1,445-kilometre-long, 24-inch diameter, buried and heated EACOP will be the longest in the world.
