Uganda has inaugurated its first-ever large-scale gold mining project, a landmark $250 million Chinese-backed investment in the country’s eastern Busia District.
The facility, operated by Wagagai Mining (U) Ltd, includes state-of-the-art refining units capable of producing gold bullion at 99.9% purity, the Presidency announced on Monday.
According to Business Insider, the East African nation, rich in copper, cobalt, and iron ore, is seeking to expand its mining industry and establish itself as a major gold producer, according to Reuters. Gold has already become Uganda’s largest foreign-exchange earner, generating $3.4 billion in export revenue last year, accounting for about 37% of total exports, although much of that came from re-exported gold. Domestic production has been largely confined to artisanal miners.
By comparison, Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer, earned $11.6 billion from exports in 2023. “In order to wake up in the minerals sector, we must have full value addition for all minerals like gold, lithium, tin among others,” President Yoweri Museveni said. Over the years, African leaders and countries have sought to restrict the direct export of valuable minerals in raw form. The practice has long been criticised, as it drains potential revenue from Africa while value-added processing is carried out abroad.
Funding infrastructure through gold
Now operational, the plant is expected to process 5,000 tons of ore per day and produce about 1.2 metric tons of refined gold annually, far higher than Uganda’s total output of 0.0042 tons in 2023. Museveni said gold revenues will help finance strategic assets, such as power plants, and a $3.16 billion standard-gauge railway under construction, which aims to lower transport costs for exports and imports via neighbouring Kenya.
