Industry and Export of Uganda

Foreign trade is still moving at a comparatively low level, but is growing. Destined for export are the mineral resources gold, copper, cobalt and limestone.

Industrial production, too, is still in its infancy. Besides cement factories and breweries, sugar production and tobacco processing have the largest production facilities. An inadequate supply of electricity restricts production at times, because the rising consumption of energy can hardly be covered any longer by the power stations.

Electricity comes almost entirely from hydropower; with Bujagali (250 MW, 2012) and Karuma (600 MW, 2024) on the Nile, large power stations were added most recently. In overall energy consumption, however, biomass (wood and charcoal) still dominates. Especially at low water levels the supply regularly becomes tight, so that a new power station at the Bujagali Falls on the Nile was long considered. The Bujagali power station (250 MW) went into operation on 8 October 2012 and at the time doubled the country’s electricity supply. The largest facility today is the Karuma power station on the Nile (600 MW, since September 2024). But there are also critical voices about this project, above all from non-governmental organisations.

Further Links

• Report on the laying of the foundation stone for the power station at the Bujagali Falls in “New Vision Online”
• Statement by International Rivers: ” Report on Bujagali Hydropower Project, Uganda (size: 181 kB; downloads so far: 6811; last download on: 26.08.2026) “